


Divine Wrath (Zamasu x DBX2 OC)

by FollyPlague



Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Angst, Dragon Ball Super - Freeform, Dragon Ball Xenoverse, Eventual Smut, F/M, Slow Burn, and i mean EVENTUALLY, are you still reading the tags? if you are we should kiss, he's not allowed to kill anyone and he's really mad about it, i try to remember my two years of creative writing lessons, literally just self indulgent, not a relationship thing though dont worry just betrayal, not for a while, there's some background between tori and turles, tori saves a slug, zamasu hates tori basically, zamasu is a little strange looking but i love that bald motherfucker. come here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:21:28
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24904498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FollyPlague/pseuds/FollyPlague
Summary: shitty self indulgent fanfic because its quarantine and i have no lifeGiven a second chance at life, Zamasu is brought to Conton City in order to take on the role of a mentor. While the thought of training mortals disgusts him, he'd rather sacrifice a bit of pride than be erased from existence.However, before he can officially become a mentor, he has to complete a test set up for him by Chronoa: train an earthling time patroller named Tori, who has recently been ranked up to godhood and is known to be incredibly difficult to teach. The two immediately get off on a bad start, what with Zamasu despising mortals and Tori wanting to be as big of a pain in Zamasu's ass as she can possibly be.Zamasu is determined to break her spirit and cause her as much emotional pain as possible. It's been made clear to him that if any harm comes to Tori while she is under his care, he will be the one who pays the price. Unfortunately for him, this mortal has a trick or two up her sleeve. Gaining her loyalty is going to be harder than he thought.
Relationships: Zamasu (Dragon Ball)/Original Character(s)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 28





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> hi welcome to my first fic on ao3 pls be nice... i love feedback btw  
> tori is my earthling main from dragonball xenoverse 2. a lot of the events/story here are inspired from actual stuff that happened in the game, but most of it is just story.

Zamasu floated regally over Conton City, a deep scowl forming on his face as he observed its inhabitants. He’d been granted a second chance at life, but only if he would become a mentor for the time patrollers. It embarrassed him greatly to stoop so low as to teach mere mortals, and it angered him further that he wasn’t allowed to kill them. Maybe there could be an ‘accident’ every now and then…  
He paused in the air as he realized he hadn’t the faintest idea where he was going. Looking down, he saw a pink-haired girl staring up at him curiously. He could stop and ask her for her directions, but that was beneath him. Though, on the other hand, would he make more of a fool of himself by wandering aimlessly, too proud to ask for guidance?  
“Are you lost?” she called up to him before he’d made a decision.  
He lowered himself somewhat so that they wouldn’t have to shout to communicate. “No.”  
She squinted. “Are you sure?”  
“You dare question me, mortal?” he scowled.  
To his surprise, the girl smiled. “Oh! You must be Zamasu-san.”  
“You ought to speak to a God with more respect,” he grunted. It bugged him that she didn’t refer to him as ‘Zamasu-sama’. The fact that she thought of him as close to her rank disgusted him.  
She looked uninterested in what he was saying. “You’re looking for Chronoa, right?”  
He squinted.  
“The Supreme Kai of Time?” she added.  
“I know who Chronoa is, imbecile.”  
“Could’ve fooled me.”  
“You really need to be put in your place,” he growled. She waved a hand dismissively.  
“Anyway, do you want me to show you where she is?”  
“I don’t need a mortal’s help to find it. I’m fine.”  
“So you’re gonna let the stick up your ass guide you around aimlessly for hours instead of accepting my directions?” She deadpanned.  
He was momentarily shocked into silence by such vulgar language. He lacked the words to properly reprimand her. The only thing keeping him from killing her at that very second was the fact that it would probably upset Chronoa if he wasn’t able to last an hour without killing a mortal.  
“I’m heading there anyway, so you’re going to have to deal with me whether you want to or not. I’m just offering you a shortcut.” she continued when he was silent.  
“I don’t need one.”  
“Whatever you say.” she shrugged, turning her back to him and strutting away. It was then that he noticed the strange halo circling the back of her head, but didn’t think much of it.  
Though he’d declined her help, he really didn’t want to wander aimlessly for hours, so he followed her from a distance, looking around and pausing occasionally to look less obvious. Once she entered the Time Nest, he waited for a few minutes before entering. He almost immediately ran into her, seeing as she had been standing directly by the other side of the entrance.  
She was grinning. “You followed me.”  
“I did not.” he scowled, taking a few proper steps back.  
“You definitely did. I’ve been sensing you behind me this whole time.”  
“It was a coincidence.”  
“Isn’t it a sin to lie?” she asked.  
He was silent for a minute. “I don’t need to explain such things to you. Besides, I’m not lying.”  
“Uh-huh.”  
“Oh, Tori, you found Zamasu!” Chronoa’s voice rang out with false cheerfulness. It didn’t take a detective to see that she was uncomfortable with Zamasu’s presence in the Time Nest. “Good, I was worried he’d get lost…”  
“He did.”  
“No, I did not.” he said firmly.  
“He’s lying. Is it a sin for Gods to lie?”  
“I don’t know.” Chronoa shrugged, though in reality she just didn’t want to egg Tori on. She had relied on Tori for several years and considered her a close ally and friend, but she was also well aware that Tori liked to try and take men’s egos down a notch and could cause a lot of trouble in the process.  
“Does this mortal work for you?” Zamasu asked, eyeing the pink-haired girl with obvious disgust.  
“Yes, she’s our most reliable Time Patroller. Old Kai promoted her to godhood recently.” Chronoa answered.  
“Godhood?” Zamasu spat, astounded. “She’s a mortal!”  
“An Earthling, specifically,” Chronoa said. “But her power isn’t like anything we’ve ever seen before. You might find her strange, but she’s our best worker.”  
“She told me I had a stick up my ass.”  
Chronoa cringed. “Tori, please tell me you didn’t say that.” she pleaded, absolutely certain that Tori did, in fact, say that.  
“I did.” Tori said, not one hint of shame in her voice.  
“Yes, well, I apologize for her, Zamasu…” Chronoa continued, though she agreed with Tori’s statement. “We’ve been working on her manners.”  
“Not hard enough.” he said.  
“Well, would you like to train her?” Chronoa asked.  
“No.” Both of them said in unison.  
Zamasu shot a glare towards Tori. “What do you mean ‘no’? You should consider the idea of me training you an honor.”  
“Sounds more like a punishment to me.”  
Zamasu clenched his fists.  
Chronoa, sensing that Zamasu was dangerously close to snapping, intervened. “Tori, leave him alone.” she said sternly.  
“‘Kay.” Tori said, her body relaxing instantly as she apparently lost interest in Zamasu, wandering off to go talk to Trunks.  
Zamasu raised an eyebrow. “I’m surprised she listened to you.”  
“You’ll have to forgive her…” Chronoa said, messing with her hair. “She’s incredibly loyal and obedient, not to mention really strong… she just has some rough history with guys trying to control her. She doesn’t react to it well.”  
“She’s a fool.”  
“She doesn’t know you. To her, you’re just some guy who came here and started insulting her kind. She doesn’t really see rank.”  
“I expect more respect from her if I’m ever unfortunate enough to speak with her again.”  
“She’ll be cordial, I promise.”  
***  
For the next week or so, Zamasu learned the ins and outs of Conton City from Chronoa. He saw Tori frequently, though to his great relief she never attempted to interact with him. Unfortunately, it was short-lived, which he only discovered when Chronoa called him in and he entered to find Tori there with her, looking quite displeased.  
“Right, so…” Chronoa nervously pressed her fingers together. “Old Kai and I have been discussing, and we think that the best way to start your job as a mentor is by taking Tori on as a student.”  
“No.” he said immediately.  
“We think it would be an excellent judge of your character and skill.” She continued. “I know you two don’t get along at all. That’s why I want to pair you together. As a mentor, you won’t always get along with your student. If you can train her, you’ll prove that you really have what it takes to be a mentor here.”  
“No.” he repeated.  
“It’s either that, or get sealed away again.” She said sternly.  
“I will not lower myself to such a pitiful level, dealing with your leftover trash. I’d rather be sealed away again.”  
“Thank god.” Tori piped up, instantly relaxing and grinning widely. She stretched and hopped up. “Well, now that this is over, I’m gonna go back to doing something actually productive, like sitting outside.”  
“On second thought,” Zamasu said. “Perhaps I could mentor her.”  
Tori froze in place and gave him the most intense glare he’d seen a mortal give. He didn’t want to mentor her, not in the slightest. He knew this, and it was obvious that she did too. However, he was pissed off enough with her to want to cause her grief, and knew that mentoring her would cause her pain. If he wasn’t allowed to cause physical pain, he’d do the next best thing to it.  
“Glad you’ve reconsidered,” Chronoa said, knowing better than to pry for his reasoning.  
“You’re joking, right?” Tori asked.  
Zamasu shook his head.  
Tori deflated instantly, which pleased him greatly. Yes, he was about to make this the worst training of her life. She would come out of it a different person. He was determined to break her.  
Unbeknownst to him, Tori had already been through a similar situation. It was going to be much, much harder than he would ever know.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> tori and zamasu argue more. turles decides to be a dick, because he's turles.

“Zamasu, come here a moment.” Trunks said, stopping the god in his tracks.   
He’d been searching for Tori, who, unsurprisingly, appeared to be hiding from him. This annoyed him to no end, as it was very beneath him to spend even a second of his time searching for an immature mortal. Trunks hadn’t spoken to him before, so this surprised him.  
“Yes?” He raised an eyebrow.  
“Listen, I know Tori. I was the one who brought her here, actually. I’ve known her for longer than anyone else here,” said Trunks. “Which is why I know exactly how annoying she can be. I’m well aware that she’s going to get on your nerves very badly.”  
Zamasu quietly waited for Trunks to get to the point.  
“I never trained her myself, but my father did. So did Goku. She got along fine with Goku, but according to my father, when he was mentoring her, she was especially disobedient towards him because of his pride. She wanted to take him down a notch. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was her goal with you.”  
“Despite that, she is an incredibly loyal ally if you just treat her with basic respect. I know you’re not going to do that, but I thought you should know.”  
“Is that all?” Zamasu asked, tired of this conversation already.  
“Another thing.” Trunks continued. “Tori has a thing for running headfirst into battles that she’s not ready for. Somehow, she usually comes out okay in the end, but there’s been a couple of times that she’s had to be rescued by her mentor at the time. I expect you to keep an eye on her for this reason.”  
He suddenly grew much more serious. “I wouldn’t put it past you to purposefully let her go into a battle where she’s outmatched in hopes that she’ll die.”  
Zamasu had been considering that.  
“Which is why I need to say this: If any serious harm comes to Tori while she’s under your care, you can say goodbye to your existence again.” he finished.   
Zamasu blinked, trying to act like that hadn’t phased him. In reality, it was going to make his job much harder; he’d been planning on her getting herself killed, him not taking the blame, and then moving onto a more respectful student.  
“That’s all.” Trunks said, turning and walking off, not waiting to see if Zamasu was going to respond.  
***  
Zamasu spent the next few hours searching for Tori, growing more annoyed by the minute. Conton City was too big. There were too many places for her to hide. Eventually, he just settled near the fountain, keeping an eye out for her. She’d have to come out eventually.   
“Hey, Zamasu!” Goku’s overly-cheery voice rang out. Zamasu suppressed a groan and turned to face him, then noticed that Goku was towing Tori along behind him. “I found your student for you.”  
“I thought we were friends.” Tori hissed towards Goku.  
“Come on, it’s shameful to spend your whole day hiding from you teacher.” Goku responded. “If anything, you should be excited by the challenge he presents.”   
He tossed her a little too roughly towards Zamasu, causing her to stumble and faceplant into the ground.   
“Oops, sorry…” he laughed awkwardly, then flew away while she was getting back up.  
She dusted herself off and faced Zamasu. “Hey.”  
His blood was boiling. “Do you think it’s funny to hide from me all day?”  
“No.” she shook her head. “I just wanted to see if you could sense my energy when I was suppressing it. Figured I might try to teach you something too.”  
“That’s not the way this works.” he growled. “I teach you, you learn.”  
“A teacher with no room for growth isn’t a teacher at all.”  
“I am a god. I am already perfect. There is no reason for me to grow more.”  
“If you’re perfect, why weren’t you able to find me?”  
This stumped him. “I haven’t grown accustomed to your energy yet.” he said finally.  
“That’s weird, because I’ve already grown very accustomed to yours, considering you’re my mentor ‘n all. Shouldn’t you learn to recognize your student’s energy?”  
He scowled. “Of course you’ve grown accustomed to mine. I have the energy of a god. Meanwhile, you have the energy of a pitiful mortal. I can’t be bothered to spend enough time to pick out your energy from all of the other mortals that inhabit this place.”  
She rolled her eyes.  
“Now then, are you done prattling?” he asked. She shrugged, which he took as a yes. “Good. Bow to me, and then we may begin.”  
“I don’t want to.”  
“I couldn’t care less about what you want to do.” he snapped. “Bow.”  
She sighed and inclined her head.  
“Deeper.”  
“This is all you’re getting.”   
He considered what Trunks had said earlier about what made her obedient. He swallowed his pride with great distress. “Please.” he managed to say, almost puking in the process.  
Instantly, Tori’s knees buckled and she pressed her hands to the floor, giving him the most respectful bow he’d seen in the city so far. He liked seeing her on the floor like that. It inflamed his ego somewhat.  
After a few seconds, she got back up, her face stern and emotionless. She looked like she was prepared to listen to him intently. Zamasu smirked a little. So, making her obedient wasn’t so hard after all. If he could sacrifice his pride for a few seconds each day, she would eventually be obedient without him having to ask her to do it. Yes, he would train her behavior along with her skills.  
“Follow me.” he said, rising into the air. She complied. He led her to a patch of isolated wilderness, which was where their training would take place.   
She waited silently for his orders.  
“Today, I will be teaching you a technique called God Splitter.” he said. “Or at least trying to. Don’t be upset if you aren’t able to perform it. It is not a move meant for mortals.”  
“Neither is this one.” Tori said, rising into the air and performing Sphere of Destruction. It narrowly missed Zamasu, startling him.   
“Are you trying to attack me?” he shouted, warily eyeing the enormous hole in the earth next to him.  
“No. Just showing you one of Beerus’s moves.” she said. “You’re immortal anyway, so what are you worried about?”  
“It’s still disrespectful to attack your mentor without warning!”  
“But I didn’t attack you.” she tilted her head innocently.  
He sighed angrily through his nose.   
***  
To his surprise, Tori managed to learn to technique within an hour. She was very pleased when she performed it correctly and it hit him. Once he was satisfied with her reaction time and use of God Splitter, he ended the training.  
“That’s enough.” he held up a hand to signify that it was over.   
He was unscathed, however she was panting harshly and bearing several cuts and bruises from battling him. Despite this, she appeared unbothered by her wounds. They returned to the time nest together, saying nothing.  
“How was it?” Chronoa asked nervously once they entered. Zamasu noticed Trunks looking over Tori’s appearance from farther away, probably evaluating the damage he’d done to her. He frowned, but said nothing, so Zamasu assumed he must’ve done fine.  
“Cool.” Tori replied, since Zamasu wasn’t speaking. “He taught me how to use God Splitter.”  
“Sounds useful.” Chronoa said, having no idea what that technique was.   
“She might have learned more if she hadn’t spent half of the day hiding from me.” Zamasu said finally.  
Chronoa frowned. “That’s immature, even for you, Tori.”  
“I know.” Tori said, though she didn’t sound ashamed at all. She even smiled a little, much to Zamasu’s annoyance. “Anyway,” she stretched. “I’m going to my room.” she turned to leave the time nest, then stopped dead in her tracks.  
Zamasu turned to see what caused her to freeze. Near the entrance stood a saiyan who looked quite similar to Goku, though his skin was darker and his hair was styled differently.   
“Oh, hey there.” said the saiyan, apparently to Tori. “Glad to see you’re still hanging around here.”  
She didn’t respond, which Zamasu took as a red flag. He glanced at her and was startled by her disposition; she was slumped down slightly and looking at the ground, avoiding the saiyan. It didn’t seem like she was scared of him-- more like she was saddened by his presence.   
“What are you doing here, Turles?” Chronoa was the first to break the silence. Her tone was hostile, which surprised Zamasu.  
“Came to speak with my student, why else?”  
“She’s not your student anymore.” Chronoa said. Zamasu frowned. Why was she talking for Tori?  
“Well, I’m here to speak with her regardless.” he shrugged.  
“You have some nerve…” Trunks growled from the back. Turles chuckled softly.  
“Whatever you have to say, you can say it here.” Chronoa said.  
“Why are you the one who’s deciding?” Turles asked. “It’s Tori’s business. She should decide whether or not to make it a public matter.”  
Tori rubbed her arm, still looking at the ground. Zamasu decided that Turles was pulling a dick move, putting her on the spot like that while she was obviously uncomfortable. He should’ve liked to see her so dejected and hurt, but given the context, it just felt disturbing. With how hard it was to get Tori to obey him, seeing her cower in front of this simple saiyan conveyed that something horrible must have happened between them.  
“Well?” Turles pushed. Zamasu found himself growing annoyed.   
“A filthy saiyan such as yourself has no reason to give orders to my student.” he found himself saying. Turles raised his eyebrows.  
“Woah, calm down. I was just asking her a question.” he looked Zamasu over. “So you’re her new teacher? She’s a handful, isn’t she?  
Zamasu just scowled. He didn’t like the way Turles spoke to him.  
“Anyway, since you’re all going to be hardasses about it, I guess I’ll just tell her in front of all of you.” He turned to Tori. “Crusher Corp. is leaving Earth tomorrow. I’ve had enough of this place. I wanted to know if we should save a spot for you on the ship.”  
Tori tilted her head up a bit to look at him.  
“Don’t look so surprised. You were one of our best warriors, don’t you know? You’re perfect Crusher Corp. material.”  
She didn’t respond.  
“What, you’re not still upset about that, are you? I told you not to expect an apology from me. I was just doing what I wanted to, like I always do. You knew that about me.”  
“Tori has work here.” Chronoa said sternly. “Like you say, she’s a fantastic warrior. We’re not going to just hand her to you of all people.”  
“I think it should be her decision.” Turles said. He then turned to address Tori again. “Come on. You know I’ve never lied to you. I told you that you could come with me when I left this planet, and I meant it.”  
Still, she was silent.  
“Where did your loyalty to me go? I used to always be able to rely on you for anything. You were devoted to me.” he sighed. “Look, if you’re still upset about that, come with me anyway. You’ll get over it, I promise.”  
“That’s more than enough, mortal.” Zamasu growled. “She’s my student. Even if she wants to go with you, I’ll stop her. It would be an embarrassment for a pupil of mine to join your lowly ranks. It would tarnish my reputation.”  
He didn’t really feel like this. He just wanted Turles to shut the fuck up already and leave.  
Turles ignored him. “Come on, Tor. I know you’re still loyal to me, aren’t you?”  
Tori snapped up towards him when she heard him use her nickname, her eyes suddenly ablaze. “All of my loyalty to you went out the fucking window when you betrayed me.” she spat. “You turned on me. You left me to die. You humiliated me.” To Zamasu’s surprise, there were tears in her eyes. “You made me look like a fool. You treated me like I was disposable, and for what? Immortality that you didn’t get. Fuck you. Take your offer and shove it up your ass.”  
Zamasu heard Chronoa sigh with relief. Turles, meanwhile, looked somewhat insulted.   
“I came here, threw my pride away and begged you to come with me, and this is how you treat me?” Turles growled. “I should have killed you that day.”  
With that, he fired a blast directly towards her. By the time Zamasu registered that he’d fired it, it had already hit her. She shrieked and was blown back a ways.  
“Tori!” Trunks yelled, running to her side.  
“Get out of here, Turles!” Chronoa shouted, clenching her fists.  
“My pleasure.” he spat, turning and leaving.  
Zamasu hesitantly came over to Trunks and Tori. She’d taken the blast head on and suffered the damage for it.  
Trunks glared at Zamasu. “Why didn’t you protect her?”  
“Christ, lay off him.” Tori coughed. “He’s just my mentor. He’s not supposed to get involved in my personal matters.”  
“He’s supposed to protect you.”  
“No, he’s supposed to train me. Besides, I don’t think anyone was prepared for Turles to shoot at me like that.” She struggled to sit up, ignoring Trunks’s gentle pushes on her shoulder in an attempt to make her lie down again. “Asshole.” she turned to the side and spat blood out of her mouth.  
“Here,” Trunks said, holding out a small green bean.   
Tori pushed his hand away. “No thanks.”  
“Tori.” he said sternly.  
“Look, this whole ordeal is my fault. I deserve to deal with the physical consequences.”  
“You’ve already suffered enough from the mental consequences.” Chronoa muttered.  
“Thanks for all the concern, but I’m going to heal from these injuries without any special help.” Tori said, groaning as she stood up. She wavered heavily but managed to keep her balance. “However, I do think I’ll be going to lay down in my room for a while.”  
“Zamasu.” Chronoa said. He turned to look at her. “Help her get there.”  
“I can walk there by myself.” Tori snapped. “I don’t need his help, and I don’t think he wants to give it either.”  
“I don’t care.” Chronoa argued. “He’s going with you.”  
***  
To both their displeasure, Chronoa was unable to be swayed in her decision, so in the end, Zamasu followed Tori closely out of the time nest. Smoke was rising from several buildings in the city.  
“What the hell happened?” Tori asked the time patroller near her.   
“I dunno, Turles just went like, crazy. Started blowing shit up.” the patroller answered. “Goku and Vegeta managed to stop him pretty quick. He’s gone now, at least. Took off in his ship.”  
Tori gazed at the destroyed buildings with chagrin. “This is my fault.” she said quietly.  
She then continued to walk at the pace of a snail, obviously in quite a bit of pain. Zamasu followed. He was angered by her pain. Sure, he wanted her to be in pain; but he wanted to be the one responsible for it, and felt like the chance had been stolen from him by a mere mortal.  
When it came to the stairs, Tori took about exactly one step before collapsing. She would have rolled the rest of the way down if Zamasu hadn’t quickly snagged her arm. She cried out in pain from his rough grasp, which did please him a little.  
“You’re not going to be able to make it down by yourself.” he sighed, throwing her arm around his neck. He put his closest arm around her waist, which disgusted him. She didn’t seem all that comfortable with it either, but didn’t complain. Supporting her weight, he led her down several flights of stairs.  
Once they reached the bottom, he was so eager to let go of her that he did it a bit too quickly, causing her to stumble and fall.   
“Ow.” she groaned, trying to push herself back up.  
Since it was his fault, he came over and yanked her back up by the arm, making her yelp again. “You could be a little gentler, you know.” she growled.  
“I could also leave you on the ground and watch you struggle to get up.” he retorted.  
This was enough to silence her for the rest of the journey.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> zamasu catches tori in a lie. she goes through with her lie just to spite him. they share a bitter conversation. also she saves a slug

Zamasu left Tori alone for the following weeks, partially because she was recovering, and partially because he still felt disgusted about grabbing her waist. Sure, he’d done it with only good intentions of getting her down the stairs, but still… he knew a mortal’s waist wasn’t a place you grabbed casually. He was disgusted with the simple implications that someone could make from it.   
Bored, he decided to go to the time nest, planning to spend some time looking over history just to pass time. Which was why he was surprised when he encountered Tori in the bamboo forest on his way there.  
“Oh, Zamasu-sama…” she said, startled. He raised an eyebrow, not missing the ‘sama’ that she’d tacked on.   
“Are you supposed to be outside?” he asked.  
“I’m allowed to go outside. How else do I get some sunlight and work on my non-existent tan?”  
“Uh huh…” he said, looking up at the sun, which was hidden behind dark clouds. He squinted at her suspiciously.  
She shuffled nervously, which was another sign to him that she was up to something.   
“What are you really doing, mortal?” he asked. “Don’t lie to me.”  
“Nothing.”  
He took a step towards her.   
“Seriously, I was just going to swim in the pond nearby. Good to work up my strength.”  
“Because you obviously need to cool down so badly. Since it’s such a hot day.” he deadpanned.  
“I like swimming on cloudy days. The sun reflecting on the water hurts my eyes. Plus, I don’t get sunburned.”  
“Then you don’t mind if I follow you to make sure that’s what you’re doing?” he asked.  
“I can’t imagine that you’d want to do that, but sure, if you want to come with..” she said, obviously disappointed. He’d half expected her to just go home instead, but of course she was so stubborn that she was going to go through with her lie.  
The pond wasn’t very far away, however it was in the opposite direction that Tori had been heading. Zamasu didn’t comment on it, since he knew Tori was already aware that he’d caught her in a lie. Once there, Tori paused.  
“I feel like I need to warn you that I’m going to strip for this.” she said.  
“Since you didn’t bring any swim gear, considering you were never going to swim in the first place.” he responded. “Why not admit that I caught you in a lie and just go home?”  
“Because I do actually kind of want to swim now.”  
He sighed.  
“So, you gonna keep staring at me or are you going to turn your back?” she asked. “I don’t care if you look. It’s nothing everyone else hasn’t already seen before.”  
He turned his back almost immediately. “What the hell does that mean?”  
“It either means that people see me go swimming a lot, or I’m a whore. You can choose.” she said.  
He scrunched his face with disgust, though she couldn’t see it. “If you try to run while I have my back turned, you will suffer.”  
“I’m not stupid, contrary to belief.” she said.  
After a minute, he heard her enter the water. “It’s safe to turn around now, by the way.” she said, so he did.  
His gaze slipped around like melting ice, trying to avoid looking directly at her just in case he accidentally saw something he didn’t want to. He settled on looking at the cliff behind her.   
“Please, you’re not going to see anything. I was sort of bluffing earlier. I don’t really want you to see me like that.” she said. “I’m not letting anything show while you’re around.”  
This relaxed him somewhat and allowed him to look at her. Indeed, she was up to her neck in water. Her hair was also down, which he’d never seen before; it was always in a tight ponytail when he was around. Her pink locks were choppy and reached a little below her jaw. She made her way to a rock and leaned against it, treading water slowly and looking up at the sky forlornly.  
“What were you actually doing?” he asked after a moment.  
She bit her lip. “I was going to spar with Perfect Cell.”  
“You’re injured.” he said immediately.  
“I know. But I can’t stand just laying around here doing nothing.” she turned her gaze to him. “You understand, don’t you? How have you been entertaining yourself these past few weeks?”  
“It’s not your business, mortal.” he said coldly.  
She frowned. “I guess it’s stupid to hope that you’d actually be able to hold a conversation with me.”  
“No one around here is able to have an intellectual conversation.”  
“Do all conversations have to be intellectual? Are those even fun?”  
“Of course not.” he blinked. “You don’t have conversations for fun.”  
“You mean you don’t.” she sniffed. “I love to talk to people.” she sighed. “No one else around here does. All anyone ever wants to do is fight. I’m all for a good fight and everything, but…” she trailed off, lowering herself slightly and blowing into the water.  
“But what?” he asked.  
She raised herself up a little. “It… makes me really lonely. I don’t really have any friends, you know. I mean, Chronoa and Trunks are great, but they’re so busy all the time… I don’t really have anyone I can talk to about anything. Whether it be serious or not. I have to deal with everything by myself. It’s hard.”  
Zamasu sighed. “I’ll never understand mortals.”  
“I guess it is hard for you to understand. Chronoa has… well, Old Kai I guess, and Trunks has all his friends. I don’t have anyone. You know that Earthlings need companionship to survive, right?”  
“Is that so?”  
“Yeah. We literally can’t survive without it. I don’t expect you to understand, being a god and all… you probably never will know my side, what it’s like being the weakest race, having to prove yourself to everyone before they even consider treating you with an ounce of respect…”  
“I guess Turles was sort of my companion for a while. He didn’t see my race, just my power… it was the first time anyone had taken me seriously. I was so starved for attention, companionship, that I just put all of my trust in him. I fell hard for him.”  
“You said he betrayed you, though.” Zamasu said.  
“He did.” she looked at the water. “During one of my missions. He was my teacher, so he accompanied me… we were dealing with a disruption in history. When he betrayed me, I was so overpowered by him and all the other enemies there that I lost the fight. It was the first fight I’d ever lost.”  
“I see.” He said, then noticed she was staring at him. “What?”  
“It was you.” she said quietly. “You were the one who dealt the final blow to me in that fight.”  
He looked confused, so she continued. “Obviously, you wouldn’t remember it, seeing as it was another timeline and a different version of you. But it was you.”  
“I suppose that’s why you show no respect for me.”  
She nodded. “I don’t really… mean to, per se. But every time I see your face, it feels like all of my wounds get torn open.”  
“Contrary to belief, I do actually respect the job that you do.” Zamasu said. “Fixing the mistakes made by those who purposely disrupt history.”  
“But you also believe Trunks should die, and he’s my friend.”   
“That I do.”  
They were silent for a while. It was Tori who spoke first. “I wonder what your life has been like.”  
“Hm?”  
“It’s so hard to imagine a life like yours. Being born already knowing what you’ll become. Born basically royalty, treated as such your whole life. No one can defy you. It’s a whole other world.” She laughed bitterly. “When I was a kid, I wanted to be a marine biologist. Or a wildlife scientist. Now I’m just stuck in this loop of fighting to make sure history stays the same. Sometimes I wish I’d chosen a different path.”  
Zamasu frowned as he listened to her. She was much more complicated than he’d thought.   
“Your entire life, everything has been handed to you. I’ve had to fight for everything. I have a scar on my leg from when I was trying to learn how to fly. I had to sneak out of my house at night to train and build up my strength. My parents wanted to send me to a correctional school when they found out, so I ran away and lived in my friend’s trailer until I was an adult. I’ve had to train every day of my life just to end up here.”  
She stared at him coldly. “So it’s likely that we’ll never understand each other. Our lives are too different, and you don’t even want to try to understand my side. You’re fine with calling me a stupid mortal and casting me aside.”  
“But I’m alive too, you know. We share that in common.” she finished, closing her eyes.  
“Why did Turles betray you?” he asked finally.  
She didn’t open her eyes. “He wanted to gain immortality, so he joined your side. He also gave you, Black, and Jiren Fruit of the Tree of Might, so your health was restored and your power increased. I didn’t stand a chance.”  
“I haven’t had a teacher since that. Ironic that you should be my next mentor.” she shrugged, opening her eyes and looking up to the sky.  
“I was really mad the other week, but sometimes I wish I’d gone with him. For him to come and beg like that… there was a time that I would have dreamed of that.”  
“You don’t seriously wish you’d taken his offer, do you?” Zamasu asked.  
“I do.” she sighed. “It would probably be more interesting, at least. And I would have been a higher rank in his team. Meanwhile, even if you did like me in the slightest, you’d probably just give me some job like writing down your accomplishments and call it an honor.”  
“It would be an honor for me to grant a mortal that job.”  
“That’s what I mean.” she shook her head.   
Zamasu was about to say something when he lifted his sleeve and noticed a slug crawling along it. He made a face of disgust and moved to grab it.   
“Wait, please don’t kill it.” Tori pleaded.  
Zamasu was so weirded out that he paused from that alone. “You’re asking me not to kill a slug?”  
She swam over to where he was. “Give it to me. Without killing it in the process.”  
He obliged, dropping the slimy thing in her hands, though very confused. She swam to the other side of the pond, placing it in the grass. “There you go.” she said.  
“Why… why did you just save a slug?”  
“Well, in my opinion,” she tucked a bit of hair behind her ear. “We have to take care of things smaller and weaker than us. We were in his home, after all, he was just misguided. It’s not fair to want to kill him just for existing.” She explained.   
“You are incredibly strange.”  
“Is it strange to want to take care of something too innocent for our world?”  
“Tori, it’s a slug.”  
She paused, staring at him.  
“What?” he asked.  
“Nothing…” she was still staring at him. “Just, that’s the first time you’ve ever called me by my name.”  
“Don’t get used to it.” he frowned.  
She nodded, then started to shiver. “Okay, I think I should probably get out. Um, please turn around.”  
“Earlier you told me you didn’t care.”  
“Earlier I also told you that I was bluffing.” she said. “Besides, I don’t think you really want to see.”  
“You’re right about that.” he said, turning his back to her.  
She took a few minutes to get dressed. “Well, I’m going back to my room now. I promise.” she said. “You can follow me if you want to make sure.”  
He looked at her. She was still shivering, harder now. “You wouldn’t lie to a god. I don’t need to follow you.”  
She smiled a little and limped off in the direction of the city.  
Zamasu remained on his rock, contemplating the conversation that had just taken place.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sorry this one is 7 pages on my google docs i think i had several ideas at once and ended up putting them all into one chapter

“Ugh,” Trunks sighed, catching Zamasu’s attention. He’d just reentered the time nest. “Tori has a cold. It’s going to make her recovery harder.”  
“Well, I’m not surprised. Her immunity is probably lowered.” Chronoa said.  
Zamasu figured it was probably better not to mention that she’d most likely caught a cold because of their adventure at the pond.  
Later that night, he decided to stroll around, having nothing better to do. Conton City was nice at night, plus it was raining, so everyone was inside. It was silent, and he liked it. He wandered aimlessly for a while until a figure caught his eye. He groaned internally when he realized it was Tori.  
He landed a few feet away from her. “Aren’t you sick, mortal? Shouldn’t you be inside?”  
His voice startled her and she jumped. “Christ, you scared the hell out of me.” she groaned.   
She relaxed and shook her head to regain her senses. Zamasu noted that her face seemed very drained of emotion. “What are you even doing out here?” she asked.   
“None of your business. I could ask the same of you.”  
“That’s none of your business either.” she said, the coldness in her voice catching him off guard.  
“You should go inside.” he said after a minute. “You’ll make yourself worse.”  
“The longer it takes to recover, the longer I don’t have to train with you.” she replied.  
Zamasu frowned at her. “So, is that your intention out here?” he asked, the anger in his voice obvious. “To make me wait forever and waste my precious time?”  
“You’re too much.” she said. “I can’t handle you constantly insulting me and berating me at every chance.”  
“What do you mean you can’t handle it?”  
“I mean I’m going to end up fucking killing myself if you’re not nicer to me, Zamasu.” she deadpanned.  
Zamasu growled. “Foolish mortal. Of course you can’t handle my presence.”  
She was silent, staring up at the sky.  
“Why can’t you even look at me when you talk to me?” Zamasu asked. “Why do you stare at the sky so much?”  
“That’s what I was doing out here. Looking at the sky.” she replied. “Because I like to hope that Turles is going to come back for me. I like to think that I’ll see his ship up there” she laughed softly. “That-”  
She was cut off with a yelp as Zamasu grabbed a fistfull of her hair and yanked. “Ow, what the fuck?” she cried, twisting in his grip. He forcefully turned her to him.  
“You are my student, whether you like it or not. It is an honor to be my student, and I won’t let you even consider throwing it away to go be with saiyan trash.” he snarled. “Purge those thoughts from your mind. You are above him, so don’t say you want to join him when he treats you, the student of a god, like you are disposable.”  
She continued to struggle. “Let go!”  
He did, however his hand moved from her hair to her neck. He pressed at the sides of her neck so that he didn’t crush her windpipe. She stared at him, obviously scared.  
“I don’t ever want to hear you considering such things again.” he said, getting very close to her face. “You will suffer consequences if I do.”  
With that, he let go, and shoved her back a bit. She gasped and rubbed her neck, staring at him furiously. She then turned around and flew off without a word.   
***  
Tori groaned into her pillow. She was annoyed beyond words. She didn’t even have anyone to talk to about Zamasu and her conflicting feelings. So she lay there, disturbed and angry, bottling up her emotions.   
Her demeanor over the next few days changed. Her patience grew shorter, and she no longer teased and taunted everyone in her path. She even snapped at Trunks and Chronoa a few times. Trunks ended up pulling Chronoa aside.  
“I’m not sure if having Zamasu continue to mentor Tori is a good idea,” he murmured. “He’s obviously having a bad effect on her.” Despite this, Chronoa didn’t change anything, though she was worried too.   
Within a few weeks, Tori had fully recovered, meaning that her training with Zamasu would resume. He was sure that she would be hostile towards him when they met again, which is why it surprised him when she bowed stiffly.  
“Master Zamasu,” she greeted with no emotion.  
Out of everything so far, this disturbed Zamasu the most. In any other case, he would have been overjoyed to see her so obedient. But this wasn’t genuine obedience. It was easy to tell that she didn’t mean any of the words she said or gestures she made. So why was she even bothering to fake it?  
“Today I will be teaching you a move called Heavenly Arrow,” he said. “My hope is for you to perform it within an hour.”  
“Of course.” she nodded, but her eyes were dead.  
True to her word, Tori did learn the move in under an hour. But her fighting bothered Zamasu. Her moves were stiff and mechanical. She deflected his attacks but didn’t put any effort into her retaliation. He discovered that when he didn’t attack, she’d just hang limply in the air, waiting.  
Finally, he ended the training. “That’s enough.”  
She bowed again and walked away immediately.  
Zamasu frowned, watching her disappear from view.  
***  
Zamasu was passing the time by looking over history again when he received a message from Tori telling him that she was entering a battle. Students were required to tell their mentors when they entered a battle so that their mentor could intervene if they were incapacitated. Zamasu acknowledged it mentally and went back to the scrolls.   
It was a few hours before he left the time nest. Once he stepped out, he knew at once that something had gone wrong. He hadn’t been able to sense Tori’s energy from inside the time nest, but that was a given; no one could sense anyone’s energy in there. However, when he returned to the city, he still couldn’t sense it.  
Cold panic shot through his nerves as he remembered Trunks’s words. If anything happened to Tori while under his care...   
He promptly teleported to where the battle had taken place, seeing as Tori had sent him coordinates. Sure enough, Tori was splayed out on the ground, badly injured. He knelt by her and felt for her pulse; it ended up being unnecessary, since the moment he laid a hand on her neck, she grunted and tried to throw a punch at him. He dodged. She coughed weakly, squinting at him.   
He looked her in the eyes, no identifiable emotion on his features. A slight frown, maybe. He sighed through his nose and picked her up, teleporting back to the time nest. Trunks was in front of them almost immediately, panicking over Tori.  
“How could you let this happen? Why didn’t you-” Trunks yelled.  
“I-” Zamasu started, trying to talk over Trunks.  
“It’s my fault.” Tori coughed, silencing them both. “I didn’t tell him that I was going into battle.” she told Trunks. “I snuck away without him noticing because I was worried that if he knew who I was going to fight, he would have stopped me.”  
Trunk’s anger turned to Tori. “Why in the hell would you do that? You won’t even give him a chance!” he shouted. “He’s your mentor, you have to tell him where you’re going. What’s wrong with you?”  
“Mmph..” Tori groaned in response.  
“You could’ve been killed!” Trunks was furious. “I don’t care if you don’t like him, you have to learn to get along with him.” He shook his head. “God, I-” he inhaled. “I don’t even want to talk to you right now. Why are you determined to be such a pain in the ass?”  
Though Trunks wasn’t looking at her, Zamasu was, so he didn’t miss the way she winced.  
“Get her out of here.” Trunks said.  
“She’s injured,” Zamasu replied.  
“When Turles attacked her, she let herself heal from those wounds naturally because it was her fault. This was also her fault, so I think the same rule should apply.”  
“That’s not f-” Zamasu started, but Tori tugged his earring hard enough to make him growl.   
“Just get me back to my room,” she said quietly, glaring at him.   
“Don’t give me orders, mortal.” he snapped. He regretted it at once, for she started trying to squirm out of his arms and back onto the ground.   
“Fine, I’ll just go by mysel- WUH!” she yelped as he tossed her over his shoulder roughly.   
“Trunks is right, you are a pain in the ass.” he grunted, carrying her back to her room.  
“Didn’t know gods could swear.” she said.  
“I’ll drop you.”  
“Do it, coward.” she challenged. He ignored her and carefully kicked open the door to her room before dumping her on the bed.  
Though he wouldn’t admit it, he was very relieved that she’d returned to her old banter and was no longer faking obedience.   
Tori groaned and stretched herself out, then rolled onto her stomach. She planted her face in a pillow for a few minutes. When she raised herself up, Zamasu was still standing there.  
“Why are you still here?” she asked.  
“Why did you defend me?” he asked, squinting. “You lied for me and suffered consequences you didn’t deserve, when it was my fault for ignoring you in the first place.” he raised an eyebrow. “Is it possible that you reserve some kind feelings towards me?”  
“No.” she deadpanned. “I knew Trunks would get someone to erase you if he found out I ended up like this because you weren’t reliable. Like I told you that day at the pond, I think all beings deserve a chance at life, even you. I wouldn’t take that from you.”  
She continued. “I don’t feel anything towards you at all. I just want to be done with you. You’ve proven that I can’t trust you or rely on you to help me when I need it. So for my own safety, I need to finish your training and get out as soon as possible.”  
Zamasu was insulted by this, so he nodded slightly and left in silence.  
***  
It was a few weeks before he decided to check on her again, mostly out of pure boredom. To his surprise, when he entered her room, he found her in perfect condition, wearing nothing but her usual tube top and some flannel shorts and playing with a pile of rusty nails.  
She glanced up to see who’d entered and scowled when she saw it was him. “What are you doing here?”  
“I could ask you the same. You seem to be healthy. Why haven’t you resumed our training? You told me you wanted to get it done as fast as possible, after all.” he accused.  
“I meant it.” she sighed. “Unfortunately, I’ve been sort of grounded.”  
“...” Zamasu blinked. “Grounded?’  
“I’m not allowed to do time patrol stuff for another 3 weeks.” she explained. “Trunks was really pissed with me.”   
“So…” he squinted at the pile of rusty nails. “What exactly are you doing now?”  
“Oh,” she shrugged. “Um, I don’t think you’d find it interesting…”  
“I don’t either, but I’d rather not try to imagine what you’re going to do with those.”  
“What, you think I’m gonna crucify someone?”  
“Like I said, I don’t know.”  
She sighed. “I-it’s… really stupid, actually. I’d rather not tell you.” she sniffed.  
He frowned. “To me, everything a mortal does is stupid. I doubt it would make any difference in my opinion of you.”  
“You actually have an opinion of me?”  
“Yes, I think you’re annoying, a bit of a brat, and that you need to show me more respect.”  
She rolled her eyes. “Oh, so basically you think of me like you think of all mortals. I already knew that.”  
“So?” he gestured to the nails again.  
She groaned and got off the bed. “Come, I’ll show you what I’m going to do with them.”  
Zamasu followed her with his arms behind his back, which was basically his default posture. She led him through a door in the back of her room to what turned out to be a makeshift garden. She knelt by an enormous bush bearing bundles of pink flowers, which Zamasu found quite pretty.  
Carefully, she dug holes in the dirt near the flowers and placed the nails in each one of them. Afterwards, she covered them up and patted them down.  
Zamasu blinked slowly. “I still fail to understand.”  
“Do you know what kind of plant this is?” she asked, looking up at him.  
He craned his neck down slightly to look at her. “No, I don’t have the time to become familiar with earthling terminology and vegetation.”  
“They’re called hydrangeas.” she smiled a little. “They come in three different colors: white, pink, and blue. Blue is the rarest, and I think it’s the prettiest.” she pressed on her knees and raised herself up.   
“You can’t change the colors of white hydrangeas, but you can with pink. Blue hydrangeas occur in acidic soil, so I buried rusty nails around the roots. They’ll change color soon.” she explained.   
She then tenderly ran a finger along one of the blooms. “I call them the chameleon flower, myself. It’s just incredible to me that something as simple as a plant can react to its environment so profoundly.”  
When she turned to look at Zamasu, he was watching her with a bemused expression. She turned a little red and went back to the hydrangeas. “L-like I said, it’s really stupid… I know I’m a fighter and time patroller and everything. I spend a lot of my time trying not to come off as girly, because people usually interpret that as weakness.”  
“I don’t really show this side to anyone. Not only because I try to hide it, but also because I just don’t have anyone to show it to. I think you’re the first person who’s stepped foot in my room since…” she paused, trying to remember. “Um. I don’t actually remember the last time someone came into my room.”  
“Then you should feel honored that I bothered to grace you with my presence.” he said.  
She chuckled softly. “See, the weird thing is, I am.”   
Zamasu raised his eyebrows, surprised.  
“I know you don’t think much of me at all. I don’t think you even bother to try.” she shook her head. “Despite it, that doesn’t mean I don’t think anything of you, you know.”  
She turned to look at him again. “I know I don’t act like it. I’d be surprised if you could tell. But I know you’re a supreme kai, and I do respect you. While you’re not a great instructor due to the fact that you hate me with a burning passion, I’m really grateful for the training you give me.” With that, she bowed to him very politely. “Thank you, Zamasu, for not giving up on me.”  
Zamasu was taken aback. It took him a moment to speak. “I don’t give up on you because I’ll get erased if I do. That’s all. Just because you saved me from erasure a few weeks ago doesn’t mean that I owe you anything.”  
She wilted. Zamasu though she might actually cry, but she just sighed softly. “I know.” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “Trunks never told me, but I know he threatened you. His heart’s in the right place…”  
“And so is yours, albeit in a strange way.” she said. “You have a pure heart. Your idea of good is different from mine, but that doesn’t mean that I want to kill you. I wish you felt the same.” she finished, then picked up the hose and started watering her flowers.  
He was silent for a bit. Finally, he said, “If it means anything to you, I do think your garden is adequate.” He wandered a little further in, pausing by some other flowers. “What are these?”  
She glanced over her shoulder, hose still on. “Oh, those are my stargazer lilies. They’re actually my favorite.” she grinned. “Or maybe my roses are…” she shrugged. “They both are beautiful and smell really good.”  
Zamasu stared at her. “Do you water hydrangeas by spraying water at their flowers?”  
“Oops.” she muttered, turning back to her work.  
He wandered through the garden absentmindedly. It was decked out very well, in his opinion. There was even a pond with koi in it, and a willow tree for shade.   
“Why am I not able to see this from outside your room?” he asked after a while.  
“It’s an area only accessible from my room. That door is sort of a teleporter.” she explained, still watering, though in a different section of the garden now.  
“I see.” he said, continuing his exploration.  
He paused to stare at a strange box full of what appeared to be herbs. “What is this?”  
“Oh, I actually don’t grow that for myself. It’s catnip for Swimmer.”  
“Swimmer?” he frowned at her.  
“He’s a stray cat that tends to hang around near my building. Sometimes I take him in here so he can roll around in the catnip.”  
“So you have a pet?”  
“Swimmer isn’t really my pet…” she sighed. “Because my life is threatened so constantly, I can’t keep a pet because there’s a huge chance that I’ll go out one day and never come back. But when I’m here, I take Swimmer into my room and talk to him.”  
“Does he understand you?”  
“No.” she chuckled. “At least, I don’t think so.”  
“Then why talk to him?”  
She sighed. “There’s no one else who I can talk to. At least he acts like he listens.”  
“You’re very peculiar.”  
“So I’ve been told.” she groaned. “Some girl in my high school told me I was really weird.” she shook her head. “That was before I ran away, of course. Point is, I’m very used to people like you naturally hating me.”  
“You compare me to that mortal girl?” he scowled.  
“Yeah.” she looked at him with a gaze that appeared to be challenging. “For someone who supposedly hates mortals so much, you act exactly like the worst of them.”  
Zamasu growled and clenched his fist. “You dare…?”  
She turned back to her chore. “Whatever. I don’t know why you came here anyway, but feel free to leave.”  
“I cannot forgive you for comparing me to a mortal.” he snarled. “You will have to be reprimanded.”  
“And I can’t forgive you for literally fucking choking me the other night!” she shouted, throwing the hose on the ground and spraying water everywhere. “I defended your life even after you did that to me, and you think nothing of it. But I’m never going to forget it. Don’t you ever do something like that to me again.” she hissed. “Without my permission.” she added.  
“When would you ever give me permission to choke you?” he frowned, too taken aback by that to respond to anything else.  
She froze, her angry expression fading. Instead, she turned red. “U-uh… do me a favor and forget I said that.”  
“I don’t owe you any favors.” he frowned. “And I fail to understand why you’d give me permission to choke you, nor why you seem so embarrassed about it.”  
“That’s probably for the better.” she sniffed, picking up the hose again and continuing to water her plants.  
“You’re not going to explain?”  
“Ask someone else.” she said.  
“I don’t talk to any other mortals besides you.”  
“What about Trunks?”  
“Not if I can avoid it.”  
She sighed, then smirked as she thought how to use this to her advantage. Get him to really shut up. She walked over to him. “You really wanna know?”  
He squinted. “You’re behaving strangely, but yes.”  
“It’s a sexual thing.” she said bluntly. “Some people, earthlings especially, are into being choked during sexual encounters. Only consensually, of course, and never hard enough to actually cause damage.”  
“So,” she continued, now toying with him. “One could say that you choking me could be you trying to make a move on me.” she grinned.  
Zamasu gasped in horror and backed up. “That’s not what-”  
“I know, don’t worry.” she waved her hand. “Definitely don’t do that to someone that you’re actually coming on to.” she explained. “But, well, someone like me…” she twirled her hair dramatically, really overacting. “Someone who’s actually into that sort of thing… you ought to be more careful about it.”  
Zamasu’s lip twitched with disgust. “Does that mean you liked it when I choked you?”  
“At that moment, no, I was really pissed with you.” she shook her head. “But..”  
“But?!” he almost yelled.  
“Looking back on it, it does sort of… excite-”  
“Okay, stop, stop!” he waved his hands. She laughed. He paused. “Are you messing with me?”  
“Yes.” she smiled. “It’s fun.”  
He scowled. “You filthy…”  
“Yeah, yeah, save it.” she waved and went back to the hose.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> zamasu hair washing simulator  
> also swimmer makes an appearance. i didnt clarify but his breed is Little Boy (okay it's actually snowshoe)

“Gah!” Tori shrieked, falling backwards on her ass. “How did you get in here?” She’d been going to water her garden and was surprised, if not a bit scared, to find Zamasu in there. Especially since he’d definitely left after yesterday.  
“Through the door. How else?” he squinted.  
“You mean you came into my room while I was asleep to get here?”  
“Yes.” he said, without shame.  
“Do you not realize that’s creepy?”  
He shrugged. “Your garden is a very peaceful area when you’re not in it.”  
“That’s because you’d have to break in to get here. Which you did.” she scowled.  
She went to pick up the hose before realizing the soil was already wet. “Did you water my plants?”  
“I thought you might be in a coma from how deeply you were sleeping. How else would the plants survive?”  
“Um, well, thanks I guess…” she said.  
“I didn’t do it for you.”  
She rolled her eyes. “I know, asshole.”  
He snapped his head to glare at her. He was about to say something, but his gaze flittered to the small furry creature sneaking in through the door. “What is that?” he pointed to it.  
“Oh, Swimmer!” Tori seemed overjoyed. She crouched and rubbed her thumb against her fingers. “Pspspspsp, come here!”  
“What on earth are you doing…?” he cocked an eyebrow.  
“Inviting him over.” she said, and sure enough, Swimmer came over and bumped against her palm as a greeting. “Hi baby!” she cooed, picking him up.  
Zamasu shook his head and went back to observing the flowers. There were all kinds of them. He wanted to know what some of them were called, but couldn’t be bothered to ask Tori. When he glanced back at her, she was dancing and rocking the cat in her arms, singing it a little song that was too quiet for him to really hear. Not that he wanted to.   
It was a while before he glanced back again, and when he did, he yelped and jumped back. Tori was literally right behind him, holding the cat up near his face.   
“Why were you trying to sneak up on me?” he accused.  
She frowned. “I wasn’t. I was trying to show you Swimmer. I thought you could hear me approaching, but I guess you were spacing out.”   
“Why do you want to show me the cat?”  
“Let him sniff your hand.”  
“I’m not doing that.”  
“Pleaaase.” she whined. “He won’t get used to you otherwise.”  
Zamasu reluctantly stretched his hand towards the cat, which leaned forward and sniffed his fingers delicately. At length, it was satisfied and relaxed back into Tori’s hands. She then put it on the ground. Zamasu was thinking of something to say when Swimmer started rubbing against his legs and intertwining between them.  
“What’s it doing now?” he asked warily.  
“Marking you with his scent. It means he likes you.” she answered. Seeing the disturbed look on his face, she quickly added, “Don’t worry. Only other cats can smell it.”  
“I see.” he said, not seeing.  
“By the way,” she said, leaning closer to him to look at his head. “Do you wash your hair?”  
“Why are you asking me that?” he looked offended. “My body doesn’t get dirty, I have no reason to.”  
“No, I’m not implying you smell bad or anything. Your hair just looks sort of… like it’s in chunks. It’s a good look for you and everything, but I just wonder what it would look like if conditioned properly.”  
He curled his lip in a grimace. “You confuse me to no end, mortal.”  
“Can I wash your hair?” she asked bluntly.  
“No?”  
“Or, I mean, you can wash it yourself if you want. I just thought that maybe because you’re a god, something like that would be a more suitable job for like, an attendant or servant or something, rather than yourself.”  
“Still no.” he squinted.  
“I’ll give you a list of all the plants in here.” she offered.  
“Are you trying to bargain with me, mortal?”   
“Yes.” she blinked. “Obviously.”  
“If I wanted something from you, I would take it. You can’t offer me anything.”  
“Unless you were too proud to ask me.”  
He sighed, considering the offer.   
“Come on, there’s nothing you even lose. You get nicer looking hair and a list of plants.” Tori said.  
“Wrong, it means you have to touch me, which I try to avoid at all costs.”  
“Your decision.” she shrugged.  
“Fine.” he snarled after a moment. “One wrong move, and I’ll end you. I don’t care if it ends in my erasure.”  
“Okay!” Tori said cheerfully. “Come.” she gestured, going back to her room.  
Zamasu leaned against the counter while waiting for the water to warm up. Tori sat on the edge of the bathtub, writing down the list of plants as promised.  
“You don’t expect me to undress for this, do you?” he asked after a minute.  
“Oh hell no.” Tori shivered with disgust. “Just lean to the side occasionally so I can pour water over the top of your head without pouring it on like, the rest of you.”  
He couldn’t believe he was agreeing to this. It was very embarrassing. Though, no one would see him, so it could be worse.   
“Hm, is this too hot for you?” she asked, gesturing to the water.   
He knelt over and felt it. “No.”  
“‘Kay.” she said, turning off the faucet. “Sit here.”   
“The floor?”  
“Easier for you to comfortably lean over the tub so I can pour water on your head. Like I said earlier.”  
He rolled his eyes but sat.  
“Lean.” she said. He glared. “Please.”  
He leaned, telling himself that this would be over soon. She dunked a pitcher in the water and poured it carefully over him, doing her best not to get any part of him that wasn’t hair. She was especially careful of his ears, which she for some reason assumed were sensitive.  
He was staring directly at her midriff due to the angle he was in. “Why do you never wear a shirt?” he asked.  
“This is a shirt.” she said, gesturing to her tube top.  
“That’s an undergarment.”  
“No, it’s called a tube top. You’re thinking of a bra. There are strapless bras, which look like tube tops, but that’s not what this is.”  
“How are they not the same thing?”  
“Tube tops cover more.”  
Zamasu glanced up at her chest and grimaced. “Then I’m afraid to see a strapless bra.”  
“You imply this doesn’t cover much?” she sniffed in mock offense, squirting shampoo into her hand.   
“I’m saying it would be hard for me to tell the difference.”  
“Tube tops ride higher than bras.” she explained. “If this was a bra, it’d start much lower on my breasts.”  
“Nevermind. I don’t want to have this conversation.” he sighed, closing his eyes.  
“You’re awfully nervous about that stuff.” she commented, now gently running the shampoo through his hair.   
“It’s not something I want to converse with a mortal about.”  
“But who better to discuss it with than a mortal female?” she asked.  
“Drop it.”  
“But-”  
“I said drop it.” he glared.  
She sighed and dropped it, focusing on massaging the shampoo into his hair. She then poured more water over him until the shampoo was washed out.  
“Are we done?” he asked, opening one eye.  
“No. You need to use conditioner, or else your hair will be dry. Shampoo just cleans it.”  
He groaned quietly and zoned out for the rest of it.  
“Okay, now you’re done with the worst of it.” she said after a few minutes.  
“There’s still more?”  
“Just drying.” She got out a hair dryer. “This is loud, by the way. But it should only take a minute with your hair.”  
“Just get it over with.” he growled.  
She did. He flinched every time her fingers brushed against his scalp as she lifted up his hair to dry it, growing more disturbed each time. Luckily, she finished quickly. She ran a comb through his hair, careful not to snag it on any tangles, and then was done.  
“Alright, it’s over.”  
He sighed in relief, then realized she was staring at him. “What?”  
“It looks good.” she smiled. “Very soft.”  
He stood up and looked at himself in her bathroom mirror. To his surprise, it did actually look nice. The style was still the same, however it appeared much smoother and fluffier than before. It made him feel more well-kempt, though he’d never admit it.  
When he turned back to her, she was sitting on the floor and finishing her list of plants.   
“How long will that take?” he asked.  
“A little while, because I’m including descriptions and drawings of each plant so you know which is which.”  
“I only needed the names.”  
“I thought you might like the extra information as an apology for me torturing you by washing your hair.”  
He sighed. “Don’t forget anything.”  
She began to stand up. “I’ll double check.” she said, before promptly buckling back down on the floor. He frowned.  
“I’m fine.” she said, slowly standing up again. He didn’t miss the fact that she was shaking badly. “Seriously.” she added. “It’s because I haven’t eaten anything but a bowl of broth yesterday.”  
“Why?” he scowled.   
“I forget to eat a lot.” she shrugged. “It’s not like, a disorder or anythin’... I just genuinely forget to eat.”  
“Then eat, you fool.”  
“Yeah.” she said, exiting the bathroom, presumably to make something.  
He followed her. “How do you expect to keep your strength up if you don’t eat?”  
“Never been a problem before. I’ve always been pretty underweight.” she shrugged.  
Zamasu ran a hand over her ribs, which made her whimper. “What..?”  
He prodded her a little roughly. “Your bones stick out. They’ll break if you don’t eat more.”  
“They’ve always stuck out.”  
“This badly?” he frowned.  
She looked down at herself. “Yeah, this is normal for me.”  
Zamasu wondered how he’d never noticed this before. “You… don’t look very healthy.” he commented.  
“Well, I was sick recently.” she shrugged.   
“I want to resume our training.” he said.  
She froze, then sighed. “I can’t. Grounded, remember?”  
“So?”  
She turned to him. “What?”  
“Then we do it without them knowing. It’s simple.”  
“If we got caught, it would mean problems for both of us.”  
“And if we don’t do it, you’re going to die from malnourishment before we’re allowed to train again.”  
“I can take care of myself.” she growled.  
“I don’t think you can. If you die, it’s going to be placed on me. And it appears the only way I can convince you to eat is so that you keep your strength up and train with me.”  
“Okay.” she smiled.  
He blinked. “That was easy.”  
She finished making her ramen and sat at the table to eat it. “By the way, are you planning on leaving ever?”  
“I’m going to go back to your garden, if that’s what you mean.”  
“Why do you like it there so much?”  
“It reminds me a bit of my own world.”  
“That makes sense, I guess.” she shrugged. “Help yourself to it.”  
She waited until he left, then broke into a large grin. There was something very fun about doing something reckless with Zamasu.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> nothing like some mother daughter angst

Zamasu was on his daily trip to the garden when he discovered Tori groaning into her pillow. This was normal, in his opinion, since Tori was always groaning about something, so he tried to sneak past without her noticing-- but failed.   
“I hate this day.” she said when she noticed him.  
He sighed. “What day?”  
She propped herself up. “It’s a stupid earthling holiday today. I don’t even want to tell you about it. I just want to get out of here.”  
He squinted. “Then go.”  
“I don’t wanna go alone though…” she looked at him. “Say, are you opposed to traveling?”  
“Is there anything I can say that will convince you not to drag me with you to your destination?”  
“No, because I want to train there.”  
He groaned. “Then, no.”  
She hopped up. “Good!” She was much more perky now. “I’m gonna put on my shirt and then we can go.”  
He glanced at her. “Is that not your shirt?”  
“This is a strapless bra.” she pointed to it, snapping the edge of it against her skin. “Remember the difference?”  
“No. And don’t tell me again.” He said quickly.  
She stuck her tongue out and went to rummage around in her drawer for her tube top.   
Zamasu mumbled angrily while he waited. Once she was ready, she moved to grab his arm; however, she noticed his scowl instantly and grabbed his sleeve instead. She tugged him along.  
***  
It took 3 hours of flight to reach their destination, and Zamasu complained the whole way. Tori managed to tune him out after half an hour. He was in a chatty mood, apparently, but the conversation was entirely one sided. He was just rambling about his hatred for mortals and how he needed to cleanse the universe.   
“Right, we’re here.” she said, dropping down into the backyard of a very lavish, secluded house in the woods.   
“Someone’s abode?” he questioned.  
“My parent’s vacation house.” She smirked. “I still know where the key is if they haven’t moved it.”  
“Why would we want to go inside? Surely we’re not training there.”  
“A promising idea!” she grinned. “But no, I’m not that cruel. Just outside.”  
“Then why are we going in?” he asked.  
“I’m going in. You don’t have to. Some of my old shit is in here.” she shrugged, lifting up the welcome mat to grab the key. “Someone once said a key under the doormat is the same as leaving a door unlocked.”  
“I don’t understand.” he frowned.  
“It’s an earth thing, I guess.” she shrugged and unlocked the door, pushing it open.  
The house was strangely luxurious on the inside as well. Polished hardwood floors. Marble countertops. It was very clean. Zamasu found it suitable to his tastes.   
“I always assumed you came from a family of little importance. How do they have a place like this?”  
Tori ignored the unintentional insult and sighed. “Their actual house is nothing special compared to this. Makes it special, I guess.”  
He watched as she disappeared into one of the rooms. After admiring the architecture for a bit longer, he followed her out of curiosity. He found her sitting on the floor, rummaging through a box of what appeared to be mostly clothes. She tossed out a piece of paper, which fluttered to the ground by his feet. He picked it up and examined it.  
It appeared to be a very cartoonish drawing of Son Goku, most likely drawn by a child. He had little sparkles by his head and seemed to be in a heroic pose. The signature in the corner read ‘Tori Matsuri’.  
He placed it gently on the bed next to him. So, Matsuri was her last name. Among the various items now strewn on the floor, he noticed a photo; judging by the hair color of the young girl in the middle, it was Tori and her family.  
“You used to have very long hair,” he commented.  
She turned to look at the photo and snatched it off the ground, crumpling it. “Long time ago.”  
“Why is it so short now?”  
“It’s not short.” she huffed. “I can put it in a ponytail.”  
“Barely.”  
“Be quiet.” she grumbled, continuing to sift through the box. Before long, she’d made a pile of clothing, and then got up. “Alright, I’m done. Let’s spar now.”  
“Outside?” he asked, distressed about harming the house.  
“Of course.”   
She led him out to the backyard, where they separated and entered their fighting stances. Tori had never seen a stance quite like his; he was very relaxed, carefully rubbing the side of his hand that he used to hit before crouching slightly.  
It took about 2 seconds for Zamasu to realize that she was out of shape. Her reaction time was abysmal. She’d forgotten how fast he moved and ended up flat on her back several times. At one point, he managed to throw her into a tree.   
“Could you slow down a little?” she groaned, trying to pick leaves out of her hair.  
“No. Catch up. You should be better than this.” he growled. “What kind of mentor would I be if I weakened myself so that the fight was easier for you?”  
“A nice one.” she mumbled.  
They continued to fight as Tori slowly worked her strength up and her reflexes got better. They were so caught up in the fight that Tori almost didn’t hear the back door open; unfortunately, she did.  
“Oh shit.” she said, turning to look at the deck. Zamasu paused as well and followed her gaze to the couple standing there watching them. It was a woman with red hair and a man white white. It took Zamasu no time at all to do the color mixture in his head and figure out who they were.  
“Your parents?” he asked quietly.  
“Yeah.” she groaned. She then turned to him and leaned up to his ear. “Listen, don’t say anything unless they talk to you directly. Don’t move, don’t talk, just stand there. Roll with whatever I say, even if it’s not true.”  
Zamasu shuddered, her breath tickling his ear. “Why would I listen to you?”  
“I’ll make it worth your effort. I promise.” she said before pulling away and scowling at her parents.  
“So, you go missing for 7 years and then decide to suddenly have a fight with a stranger in our backyard on Valentine’s Day?” Her mother spoke first, scowling back.  
“I didn’t think you’d be here. It’s not like you guys live here or anything.” She shrugged. “And he’s not a stranger. He’s my mentor.”  
This seemed to make her mother angrier. “Your mentor is a green, mostly bald, alien?” she hissed.  
Zamasu growled under his breath, wondering if Tori would ever be able to offer something that made this worth his effort.   
This gave Tori an idea. She wrapped an arm around Zamasu’s shoulder. “Not only is he my mentor, he’s also my boyfriend.” Feeling him stiffen, she lowered her voice and spoke through gritted teeth. “Roll with this, I beg you. This will piss them off a lot.”  
Zamasu didn’t relax, but he didn’t say anything either.   
“Oh, Gods above.” her mother groaned, disgusted with the idea. Zamasu thought she seemed even more disgusted with the idea than he was, which was impressive, considering he felt like erasing himself on purpose.  
“You’ve never supported me in anything I wanted to do, so I’m not surprised that you’re upset.” Tori said.  
“You left us when you were 16!” her mother shouted. “You didn’t even tell us where you went. We didn’t know if you were even still alive!”  
“Does it even matter to you?” Tori deadpanned.  
“Of course it does. You’re our daughter.” her father spoke up.  
“It’s true, although hard to imagine.” said her mother. “I didn’t raise you like this.”  
“Yes, you’re right.” Tori spat. “Sorry for not being the perfect little god-worshipping girl wearing church dresses and keeping her legs crossed and marrying a Christian boy at 19 and giving you 600 grandchildren.”  
“You’re better than this.” her mother hissed.  
“No, I’m not. Sorry I turned out to be a devil worshipping whore who’s hellbent on destroying the family reputation, or whatever the fuck you think I am.” she growled.  
“That sounds pretty damn close, considering you’re with this demon.” her mother gestured to Zamasu.  
Tori guessed that that would strike a nerve with Zamasu, and she was right.  
“You dare compare me to such filth?” he asked, barely managing to keep his voice steady. “I am the supreme kai from the 10th universe. A pathetic worm like you should treat me with more respect if you value your life.”  
Her mother just looked confused. “What is that supposed to mean?”  
“It means he’s a god, Ahmya.” Tori said. Zamasu guessed that that was her mother’s name. “So, in a way, I am the god worshipping little girl you hoped I was.”  
Ahmya was still processing this when Tori tugged Zamasu’s sleeve. “Let’s get out of here before you end up killing them.” she muttered.  
Zamasu had no quarrel with this and rose into the air, Tori following.   
“Tori Matsuri, don’t you dare leave!’ Ahmya shouted. “We’re not done here!”  
“Yes we are!” Tori shouted back, then took off at such a speed that Zamasu had to rush to catch up.  
Zamasu was pretty pissed with what Tori had pulled, however, when he turned to look at her, she was fuming as well. It was a long time before either of them spoke, flying in silence for a while.  
“So, that was my mom and dad. Now you know.” she grimaced, finally breaking the silence.  
“You have a bad relationship with them.” he commented.  
“No shit.” she growled.  
“Don’t you turn your aggression towards me, mortal.” he growled back. “I can hardly forgive you for what you implied us to be.”  
“Yeah, sorry about that.” she shrugged, cooling off a little. “I know it disgusts you. It disgusts me too. I just wanted to piss them off, and I knew it would.”  
“That it did. Are you really so petty?” he asked.  
She smirked at him. He sighed.   
“So what exactly do I get out of this?” he asked after another while.  
“My complete, genuine obedience for at least a week.” she replied.  
“That’s not enough.”  
“I can’t offer anything else that you’d actually want. Stuff that usually works for other guys doesn’t work with you.”  
“Like?”  
She was silent for a minute. “You don’t want to know.”  
“Fine then.” he was alright at leaving it at that.  
“I’ll be silent for the rest of the way home if you want.” she offered.  
“Do it.”  
She pursed her lips and was immediately quiet.   
***  
It wasn’t until they returned that she spoke again.   
“Well, that was a bust.” she groaned. “Guess I’ll just bring you to some abandoned area next time.”  
“What is Valentine’s Day?” he asked. “Is it the day you hate so much?”  
Tori groaned. “Oh lord, I was hoping you missed that.”  
“I don’t miss anything.”  
“Yes, I see that.” she sighed, flopping on her bed. “It’s an Earthling holiday that celebrates romance, love, and partnership. You give your partner gifts and stuff like flowers and chocolate.”  
“And why do you hate it?”  
“Because I don’t have anyone to celebrate it with. I don’t have a partner.”  
“By partner you mean… mate, right?”  
She chuckled. “How primitive. But yes, I guess that’s what you’d call it. Looking back, I should’ve known that my parents would go to their vacation house to celebrate it together.”  
She was quiet for a long time before speaking again. “Did you know I was supposed to have a twin?”  
“You were?”  
She nodded. “She was stillborn.” She lowered her voice a good amount, to the point where she was just mumbling. “My mother used to say that she wished it was me instead.”  
Zamasu frowned.   
“Anyway,” Tori got up. “Enough of that. Sorry about dragging you into that. I’ll leave you alone for a while.” she disappeared into her garden.  
He paced her room aimlessly, wishing that they could trade places, since he would have much rather been in the garden than her room. To his surprise, she emerged a few minutes later.  
“Here.” she thrust a small bundle of flowers at him. “I know you like these ones. I see you stare at them a lot.”  
“Didn’t you say that… er, this is the sort of thing partners…” he couldn’t finish the sentence.  
She chuckled. “Friends, too. If I had friends, I’d give them flowers all the time on Valentine’s Day. You’re like, the closest thing I have to a friend, so…” she shrugged.   
He examined them. They were his favorites in her garden. She was very observant.   
“Anyway, don’t take it in a bad way. I just kind of want to make up for the hellish experience that was accidentally meeting my parents.” She said, stretching.  
“Right…” he muttered.  
“Okay, now I really will leave you alone.” she said, leaving her room.  
He stood there for a while, processing the events of the day. He then tucked the flowers into his sash and went to go relax in her garden.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> angst and bunny suits. also shoutout to @trunksgf on instagram, my biggest fan and the creator of xara. i love u *kiss noise*

Tori wandered around Conton City as she often did when bored. Zamasu hadn’t spoken to her since Valentine’s Day, so she suspected that she’d freaked him out. She was lonely without him, but knew better than to bother him, so she decided to try and socialize with fellow patrollers for once.  
She found a small group sitting in a circle and playing a game of some sort. Swallowing her anxiety, she approached.  
“Hey, uh…” she said, scratching her neck. “D-do you guys mind if I join you…?”  
“Go ahead!” Another earthling responded, scooting to the side. Tori sat between her and a saiyan woman.  
“So what are you guys doing?” she asked.  
“We’re making bets with each other about stupid shit.” the saiyan responded. “It’s like spin the bottle, but stupider.” she laughed. “What’s your name by the way?”  
“Tori.”  
“You’re the one being mentored by Zamasu, right?”  
“Yeah.”  
“Xara.” the saiyan held her hand out and Tori shook it. “This is Onyx,” she pointed to a male saiyan. “Akane,” she pointed to another female saiyan. “Malikai,” she pointed to a male saiyan. “Ferisu,” she pointed to a male frost demon. “And Aya.” she pointed to the other female earthling.  
Tori nodded in acknowledgement.  
“What’s working with Zamasu like?” Aya asked. “I hear he’s pretty scary. I’ve had to fight him a couple times to fix distortions in history.”  
“Yeah, especially since you’re an earthling…” Ferisu said. “How has he not killed you yet?”  
“He gets pretty close.” she smiled weakly. “He’s not allowed to. I’m sure he would if he could.”  
“Scary.” Aya nodded. “Xara knows a bit about what he’s like.”  
Xara turned a bit red. “Not really. Black is almost entirely different than the usual Zamasu.”  
“Isn’t Black just Zamasu’s soul in Goku’s body?” Tori asked. “Sounds like it’d be just Zamasu.”  
“You’d think that,” Xara nodded. “But when he’s inside a mortal body, he’s a lot different. His mind is partially influenced by it, I guess.”  
“You mean he’s more insane.” Aya chuckled.  
Xara grumbled. Aya leaned over into Tori’s ear. “She and Black have a bit of a thing going on.”  
“I see.” Tori said, a little jealous that Xara would be able to bag someone with the mind of Zamasu. Maybe it was a saiyan thing.  
“I’d kill to see Black’s reaction to Xara in a bunny suit.” Onyx piped up, chuckling.  
“Oh, shut up.” Xara growled.  
“Same as I’d kill to see Zamasu’s reaction to Tori in a bunny suit.” he continued, grinning at her. Tori blushed.  
“He’d be indifferent. He doesn’t really… see me like that. I don’t think he sees like that at all.” she said.  
“Well, it makes sense.” Ferisu said. “Why would Kai’s ever need to be horny? It’s not like they can reproduce.”  
“True.” Aya nodded.  
“Well, then I propose a bet to Xara and Tori. If they lose their bets, they have to wear bunny suits for 24 hours.” Onyx said.  
Xara smirked. “You’re on, idiot.”  
Tori hesitated. She wasn’t sure she was ready to be seen in an outfit like that. “Uh… okay, what the hell. Why not.” she shrugged.  
“Right, so, Xara,” Onyx addressed the fellow saiyan. “My bet is that you don’t have the balls to tell Vegeta that he’s a DILF, and also explain what DILF means to him.”  
Xara groaned. “That’s not really a bet, it’s more of a dare.”  
“You gonna try it or just take an automatic loss?”  
“I’ll take the loss, because I value my life, thanks.” Xara growled, crossing her arms. “That wasn’t fair.”  
“He just wants to see you in a bunny suit.” Aya mumbled.  
Tori was now very scared of what her bet was going to be.  
“Tori,” Onyx said. “My bet is that you can’t have a conversation with Zamasu without him saying the word ‘mortal’.”  
Tori winced. “Oh, you really don’t play fair.”  
“Hey, at least you actually have a chance at yours.” Xara said.  
“Not really.” she groaned.  
“Xara, you go with her to witness the conversation.” Onyx said.  
Tori and Xara got up, though the earthling was more reluctant to do so than the saiyan. It wasn’t hard to find Zamasu these days; he was almost always relaxing in Tori’s garden. He lifted his head when he heard them enter, and then glared once he realized who it was.  
“Hey, Zamasu…” Tori started.  
“What do you want, mortal?” he growled.  
“Failed step one.” Xara chuckled.  
Tori groaned loudly and turned heel, dragging Xara with her back to the group. Zamasu was confused and somewhat annoyed, but went back to meditating.  
“Judging by your expression, you lost.” Ferisu commented once Tori was within earshot.  
“I’m going to kill someone.” Tori mumbled.  
“Yes!” Onyx fist pumped. He tossed the outfits to Tori and Xara.  
“Why do you have these…?” Xara sniffed.  
“For moments exactly like this.” he laughed.  
“I’m putting this on in my room.” Tori huffed, snatching the outfit and leaving. Xara did the same.  
Praying that Zamasu didn’t decide to come back inside, she stripped and looked at the outfit. She wouldn’t be able to wear any bra under it… it had an open back, and the bra would show. She mumbled angrily to herself as she put on the tights and then the outfit itself. She took 5 minutes to figure out the collar, put it on, and then put on the bunny ears. The headband conflicted with her hair style, so she took it out of the usual high ponytail. She looked at herself in the mirror and nearly gasped. It was very risque.  
“What in the heavens?” Zamasu’s voice broke her out of her trance.  
She shrieked and whirled around to face him. “Why are you in here?”  
“Because I have to come through here to leave. What the hell are you wearing?” he raised an eyebrow.  
“Aughh, this is so embarrassing…” Tori whined, tugging the outfit up somewhat. “I lost a bet.”  
“You mortals…” he said, clicking his tongue.  
“Don’t you make any comments about this.” she pointed at him. “It’s your fault I lost!”  
“How is it my fault?” he frowned.  
“The bet was about if I could have a conversation with you without you saying the word ‘mortal’.” she said.  
He went silent at this. “Do I really say it that much?” he asked after a minute.  
Tori rolled her eyes. “I lost the bet before the conversation even started!”  
“Your fault for thinking I’d bother having a conversation with a pathetic worm like yourself.” he said.  
Tori’s eyes went dull, as did her expression. He sighed. She got hurt every time he said stuff like this, but when would she learn better? She got an idea all of the sudden. It was dangerous. But that made it fun.  
“Since you’re going to be like that…” she sighed, heading for the door, “I’m gonna go ask Whis to bring me to Turles.” she then walked out, starting to close the door.  
She didn’t get to actually close it, because Zamasu burst through it and grabbed her by the hair before yanking her back inside with a harsh tug.  
“Ow!” she yelped. “Seriously, learn to grab me somewhere else!”  
Zamasu’s furious expression silenced her. “You dare.” he snarled.  
She glared back. “You treat me like shit. Why should I want to stay with you?”  
“Because I’m a god!”  
“You’re a terrible god!” she shouted. This stunned him into silence. “What kind of god tries to eliminate an entire race? What kind of god insults their student so often that she ends up thinking she’s worthless?”  
“You are worthless!” he was still holding her hair and gave it a sharp tug.  
“I can’t believe we’re having this argument while I’m in a fucking bunny suit!” she groaned, trying to twist out of his grip.  
“I can’t believe you’re trying to struggle! It’s futile.” he growled.  
“Let go!”  
“You need to be punished.” he growled.  
Tori wasn’t sure what he was planning, but it was nothing good. Something painful. Probably very painful.  
“Hey, alright, that’s enough!” Xara shouted. Neither of them had noticed her standing in the doorway. She rushed over to Tori and yanked Zamasu’s hand out of her hair.  
“You dare touch me, mortal?” he snarled.  
“Come on.” Xara grabbed Tori before Zamasu could think of his next course of action, dragging her out the door.  
“Thanks.” Tori said, once they were far enough away. “That got a little out of hand.”  
“He looked like he was going to kill you.” Xara sighed.  
“It’s my fault.” Tori admitted. “I said that just to piss him off. I was tired of him ignoring me… well, I uh, am not gonna do that again. I’d rather be ignored.”  
“Good.” Xara nodded.  
Onyx whistled when the two came into sight. Tori normally would’ve been shy about this, but feeling a little mentally confused, she blew a kiss to Onyx. Why not try to own it? It wasn’t like she didn’t appreciate being found sexy. It had been a while since she’d done anything with a partner.  
He looked a little shocked, but excited. Tori sat back down with the group, and they continued to talk. They talked a lot. Tori found it nice to be able to actually converse with someone. They talked long after the sun went down. When it was almost midnight, Aya yawned and decided to go to bed. This caused the group to get up and disperse at last.  
Xara pulled Tori aside. “Hey… do you wanna stay with me tonight? I’m not sure I want to leave you alone with Zamasu right now.”  
“Can I?” Tori asked, surprised.  
Xara nodded. “Of course. You can borrow some of my clothes to sleep in.”  
They went to Xara’s room, where Tori decided to wear one of her t-shirts and some flannel shorts. She curled up on the couch, chuckling softly.  
“What?” Xara asked.  
“It’s been forever since I had a sleepover.” she grinned.  
Xara laughed. “Well, yeah. I guess so. I see you around all the time, but you never talk to anyone…”  
“I think people don’t like me.”  
“Why? You’re great.” Xara smiled.  
“Thanks.” Tori blushed.  
Tori lay there for a while, staring at the ceiling in the dark. It was weird, being in a stranger’s room. All of the little trinkets meant so much to Xara, but she had no idea what any of them meant. It was a room full of someone else’s memories.  
She didn’t sleep well. In the morning, she and Xara put on the bunny suits; they had to wear them until the afternoon.  
Days passed. Tori stayed with Xara. Tori flirted with Onyx. Tori avoided Zamasu. Xara didn’t seem to mind the company, at least.  
And then weeks.  
And then a month.  
Xara didn’t tire of Tori’s company despite only knowing her for a day, and Tori found comfort in her new friend. She was able to go about business as usual, rarely thinking of Zamasu. She did think of him once; but it was when she fractured her arm during a fight.  
It took another month for it to heal. By this point, she’d almost forgotten about Zamasu entirely. Which was why she was caught off guard one morning, when he appeared while she was sorting bottles into bags of plastic, glass, and aluminum.  
She was wearing Xara’s tanktop and shorts. She straightened up and glared at him. She knew he was here to talk to her. There was no other reason for him to be there.  
“How long do you plan to avoid me?” He spoke first. “We still need to complete our training.”  
“Just call it good. I don’t want to train under your guidance.” she sniffed.  
“We have to finish it. I can’t become a mentor if we don’t.”  
“Sucks for you then.” She shrugged and bent back over to continue sorting. When she looked back up, he was right beside her, peering at her curiously. She took a step back. He took a step forward.  
“You’re getting some color.” he pointed to her shoulders, which were a bit red.  
She sighed and shifted her weight. “Don’t care.”  
He inhaled, looking a little pained at what he was about to say. “Look, I’m sorry.”  
This surprised Tori. Though it obviously pained him to say such a thing and he probably didn’t mean it too much, it was still amazing that he even said it in the first place.  
“Will you come back?” he asked.  
“I dunno…” she shrugged. “I was gonna hang out with Onyx later.”  
“That filthy saiyan that’s been flirting with you?” he asked.  
She raised an eyebrow. “You've been stalking me?”  
He shook his head. “Word travels. I listen.”  
“It’s not really any of your business, anyway.” she bent over to sort some more.  
He crossed his arms. “I don’t want you seeing him.” he said.  
This shocked Tori into standing upright again. “Wh… huh? Why not?”  
“I just don’t. I don’t think you should see him. He’s not good for you.”  
“And you’re any better?” she asked, almost laughing.  
“What? I’m not implying you should date me- heavens, no. I just mean that he’ll distract you from our task at hand.”  
“I didn’t think you were implying that.” Tori frowned. “But now I think you might be jealous?”  
“Jealous of a saiyan?” he growled. “You think so low of me?”  
She chuckled. “Fine. I’ll go back with you. And for the record, I’m not seeing Onyx. We’re just friends.”  
Zamasu shrugged.  
“You should probably get rid of any lingering anger before I come back.” she said, tying her hair up.  
He raised an eyebrow. “Where are you going with this?”  
“I’m giving you permission to choke me. Non-lethally.” she said bluntly. “No, I’m not flirting with you, either, I just want you to get it out now so we can put this past us.”  
Zamasu took a minute to respond. “You’re serious.”  
She nodded.  
He approached cautiously. She closed her eyes and felt his hand on her neck; his thumb rested on her pulse for a moment. She then felt the brush of his fingers falling away.  
“I have no lingering anger.” he said, crossing his arms once more  
“O-okay.” Tori said, a little shaken by the touch. It had been strangely gentle. “Let me finish sorting the bottles, then I’ll come home.”  
“Good.” he said, turning and leaving.  
Once he was gone, she reached up and touched where his fingers had been. It was making her feel something.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> this one's real short sorry 

Zamasu certainly should not have been surprised when he found Tori unconscious and badly beaten in the remains of a battle site. He groaned softly as he picked her up. Another battle he should’ve paid more attention to… then again, Tori also should’ve known better than to fight someone so much stronger than her.  
He brought her back to her room, setting her down on the bed. She regained consciousness then, shown by the fact that she whined in pain. She opened one eye warily to look at him. He was glaring at her, but not with malice; just annoyance.  
“Idiot mortal.” He commented before standing up and walking away.  
She chuckled weakly, then winced. She was in so much pain that it was hard to stay conscious. Zamasu then reappeared.  
“You’re filthy. Covered in blood and dirt. I’m running a bath.” he said.  
Tori tried to sit up but failed. He sighed and picked her up, bringing her to the bathroom and setting her down on the sink. He turned to watch the water, and when he looked back, she was trying to bite her tube top.  
“What are you doing?” he asked.  
“Trying to get it off.” she grunted.  
“With your teeth?”  
“My arms hurt so much that I can’t move them.”  
“Then they’re probably broken.”  
“Zamasu, I hate to say this…”  
“Then don’t say it.” he said, knowing she would anyway.  
“But I’m going to need your help with this whole situation. Undressing, bathing, and redressing. I can’t do it by myself.”  
He groaned. “No.”  
“Or you can go ask Trunks for a senzu and admit that you let me get fucked up again.”  
He was silent.  
“It’s really just the tube top. I can get the rest off by myself.”  
“How?”  
“Awkwardly.”  
He sighed, cursing internally, and curled his fingers around her top.  
Tori instantly went red. “Gah, not from the front! Are you crazy?”  
“I don’t see you in that way, so I could care less.” he growled.  
“I-I don’t want you seeing that!”  
“How else are we going to do this?”   
“Do it from the back. Just cut it off, I don’t mind.”  
He sighed and turned her around, using his ki blade to cut through the fabric. Still unable to move her arms, she couldn’t cover herself. Not that he cared.  
“Get the rest off.” he grunted as he went over to turn off the water. “I hope you can walk, because I’m not keen on picking you up when you’re in a state like that.”  
He heard her struggling silently, and then a thud. “What was that?” he asked, wary to turn around.  
“I fell off the sink.”  
“Get up then.”  
“Give me a minute.”  
He waited, back turned, growing increasingly embarrassed about this entire situation.  
“Okay, uh, I’m up. Just… close your eyes or something.”   
He did just that, shutting them tightly and leaning against the wall. He heard her enter the water and hiss in pain. “Alright, it’s safe to open your eyes.” She said.  
She was curled up in a ball so that he could only see her legs and back. Her arms lay limp and useless by her sides. He grumbled.  
“Your spine is jutting out.” he knelt beside the tub and prodded her. “Are you not eating?”  
She winced. “Ow, don’t push like that. And yes, like I told you, I just look like this.”  
He sighed, cupping some water in his hand and pouring it over her back. She whimpered.  
“It’s hot.”  
“You’ll survive.” he said, continuing to do it.  
“Are you afraid to touch me? You’re not going to get everything off just by pouring water on me.”  
“I’m not afraid, more like disgusted by the thought.” he explained.   
“Whatever. Do what you want.” she shrugged, then let out a pained cry.  
“...” he pursed his lips. “You’re really hurt.”  
“It’s fine. I’ll be fine.”  
“Your arms are broken.” he commented, running his fingertips softly along her arm. She made a stifled noise of pain, crying softly.   
“I’ll figure out a way to fix it.” she managed to say through gritted teeth. She leaned away from him.  
“Why are you avoiding me?” he asked. “Do you think I’m going to hurt you more?”  
“No, I just…” she sighed. “I don’t like being this vulnerable around you. I’m injured, naked, and relying on you not to just make it worse.”  
“You don’t trust me.” he frowned.  
“You’ve given me no reason to.”  
He sighed, using his thumb to wipe away some of the blood on her back.   
It was silent after that. After it was done, Zamasu wasn’t able to get another top on Tori without her lifting her arms, so instead he just tied a cloth around her chest and called it good. She lay on the bed for a while, staring up at the ceiling. He sat beside her, not sure what else to do.   
“Zamasu?” she asked softly.  
“Hm?” he turned to look at her. She’d managed to struggle into a sitting position and was right next to him.  
“I’m a little out of it right now, so don’t take this personally…” she said.  
He waited for her to finish the sentence. When she didn’t, he raised his eyebrows. She leaned forward and pecked him on the lips gently, before giggling and falling back on the bed. He was so shocked that he froze, his brain basically making a windows error noise.  
“Thanks for taking care of me. I know I’m a pain in the ass.” she said, turning to the side slightly and closing her eyes.  
***  
She didn’t regain consciousness for a long time. When she finally did, it was bright outside and she had a huge headache. She groaned loudly.  
“Oh, you’re… awake.” Zamasu said from somewhere nearby. She didn’t open her eyes to check.  
“Sorry.” she sighed. “I know you’re probably annoyed with me for that.”  
“Well, yes, and confused. I didn’t know you felt that way. It was very… bold of you.”   
Tori sat up, her eyes shooting open. “Wait, huh? What are you talking about? I’m talking about me getting my ass kicked again.”  
Zamasu, who was sitting at her table, turned a little purple. Tori realized he was blushing.  
“Uh oh.” she said. “What did I do that I don’t remember doing?”  
He sighed. “You kissed me.”  
She gasped. “Oh my god. Oh… oh no. Oh god. I’m so sorry. I have no memory of that.”  
“You did say you were ‘out of it’, so to speak.” he grunted.  
“Augh, I’m gonna kill myself.” she groaned, getting out of bed. She then noticed what she was wearing. “Why is there a cloth tied around my tits…?”  
“You were filthy and both of your arms were broken. I helped clean you up a bit before I went to Trunks to get one of those… healing beans. You couldn’t lift your arms to get your top off, so I had to cut it off.”  
“You mean you saw..?” she was the one blushing now.  
He shook his head, his earring twinkling slightly. “No. You were out of it, but you were still terrified at the thought of me seeing you like that.”  
She sighed in relief. “Well, that was… a very stupid chain of events.”  
He frowned. “Did you tell me that you were going into a dangerous fight?”  
Tori gulped and looked away. “I must have.”  
“I don’t recall getting a message.”  
“Hah, that’s, uh, weird…” she scratched her neck. “A-anyway, thanks for saving me, I’m gonna leave you alone now…”  
She got up and started to make her way to the door. She didn’t get there fast enough, though; Zamasu was quicker and moved into the doorway, blocking her exit.  
He narrowed his eyes. “You purposefully hid it from me.”  
“I thought you would have stopped me.” she admitted, looking down.  
“I would have, and obviously, it would have been the right decision.” he growled. “Where do you plan on going, anyway?”  
“Well, since you got me a senzu, I’m fully healed. I was gonna go do some sparring.” she said.  
He clicked his tongue. “No, you’re going to train with me. We still have to finish.”  
“Eager to get me off your back now that we’ve kissed, huh?” she grinned.  
He frowned. “You kissed me. I didn’t reciprocate.”  
“I’m teasing you.” she sighed.  
“I know. I don’t like it.”  
“You don’t like anything I do. What’s new?”  
“Come.” he sighed, leading her out to a canyon where they could train.  
***  
“You’re too predictable.” he commented as they fought. “You rush towards me first thing and try to punch.”  
“I like to close the distance. I fight up close.” Tori said, brushing her bangs out of her eyes.  
Zamasu vanished and appeared behind her, jamming his elbow into her back. Tori cried out and fell. “It’s easy to counter. I step to the side and attack you from there.”  
She got back up and swung at him, connecting with his back. He went flying a short distance but managed to stop himself.   
“Try to come at me in a way I can’t predict.” he challenged.  
Tori paused, flying in slow circles around him. She then rushed towards him. He sighed, assuming she hadn’t been listening; but instead, she darted to the side at the last second and hit him in the waist. He coughed and grasped his side. She used the opening to perform his ultimate attack; Instant Severance. The attack landed and he went crashing to the ground.   
“Good.That’s enough” he said, grinning slightly as he got back up. “You’ve mastered my last technique.  
Tori landed beside him and crossed her arms. “W-wait… this is it? The end?”  
“Yes. I’m surprised you managed to get this far.” He said. “I am officially no longer your mentor.”  
“Huh. That felt… anticlimactic.” she shrugged. She then fist pumped. “I’m free!”  
He rolled his eyes. “As am I. I can finally get another student.”  
She giggled and flew away, apparently pleased.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jealousy and angst <3

Zamasu didn’t speak with Tori again for a long time. He saw her occasionally in passing. She’d nod in acknowledgement, and he’d turn away. It wasn’t long until he was considered an official mentor and was assigned a new student; a peppy earthling girl who might’ve been similar to Tori had she not been extremely obedient and airheaded.   
He didn’t understand why he found her obedience annoying. It should’ve been everything he wanted. But for some reason, he was perturbed by her. She seemed to have no real personality, just being whatever he wanted her to be. He even tried to rile her up sometimes, but she just took his insults and agreed with him.  
When Tori passed by him after another month had passed, he noticed that she was wearing a new outfit. A camo bikini, dull green shorts, and some straps on her legs. It was even more revealing than her previous outfit. He curled his lip in disgust.   
His new student followed him everywhere. She was quiet, but it still bothered him. Especially since he couldn’t go anywhere to get away from her. He missed the garden, but since he hadn’t spoken to Tori in so long, it would have been awkward for him to go there.  
One day, as he was leaning against a tree, with his student sitting near him, Tori wandered by again. This time, he noticed strange marks dotting her neck, chest, and waist.   
He sighed. “To no one’s surprise, she got herself beat up again.” he muttered.  
“Why do you say that?” his student, who was named Mara, asked.  
“The bruises.”  
“Oh… um, those aren’t bruises, master…” Mara chuckled softly.  
“What are they, then?” he raised an eyebrow.  
“They’re called hickeys. It’s an earthling thing that romantic partners do to each other sometimes. Usually a sexual thing.” she was turning red. “It’s a way of marking a partner so that everyone knows that they’re taken. It’s done by sucking gently on the skin until it leaves a mark.”  
“Someone has marked her?” he said, alarmed.  
“Yeah, usually that’s the case. It means she’s recently had… relations with someone, for lack of better wording.”  
“Who?” he asked, though there was no point, because he already knew it was Onyx. That, and the fact that he could see Tori approaching Onyx as they spoke.  
He couldn’t explain the burning fury that was building in him. The thought of his student-- no, his former student- being with someone he explicitly told her to avoid. He knew he didn’t control her anymore, and she owed him nothing; but it didn’t make him any less angry.  
He watched as Tori wrapped her arms around Onyx and buried her face in his chest (he was a good deal taller than her). The saiyan’s tail unraveled from his waist and wrapped itself around her thigh. He couldn’t hear them from this distance, but he could tell that they were talking and Tori was giggling. She looked happier than he’d ever seen her be around him. Onyx looked up and made eye contact with him. He said something to Tori, who turned to look at Zamasu as well. She then unwrapped herself from him and walked over to Zamasu, much to his own surprise.  
“Hey,” she said politely, stopping a few feet in front of him.   
“You let him mark you.” he blurted out, unable to bother with a greeting.  
Tori sighed, cracking her neck and showcasing the hickeys more. “Yeah, what about it?”  
“It’s vulgar.” he growled.  
“I’ve never cared much about what other people think.” she shrugged. “As long as I have someone who likes me, I’m fine. And I do.”  
Mara stood up. “Who is this?”  
“Tori,” She said before Zamasu could answer. “I’m his previous student.” She held her hand out.  
“The unruly one.” Mara glared at her hand until she let it awkwardly fall. “You were never obedient to Master Zamasu.”  
Tori sighed. “Wow, looks like you lucked out with this one.” she addressed Zamasu. “You ought to like her a lot more than you liked me.”  
“I don’t like her, same as I didn’t like you. I don’t like mortals.” he snarled.  
“Yeah, but I bet she never kissed you.” Tori grinned.  
Zamasu was stunned into silence. She dared to bring that up in public? Mara made a disturbed noise.  
“You… you kissed him?” She asked, anger in her voice.  
“I was pretty out of it, but yeah.” Tori sounded proud.  
“You would dare?” Mara balled up her fists.  
“Chill out. It’s not like you're his girlfriend or anything.” Tori laughed. “Honestly, it’s embarrassing to be so devoted to defending someone who wouldn’t give a rat’s ass if you died.”  
“Master Zamasu is a god. He deserves our utmost respect.” Mara growled.  
“This is the hill you want to die on? Pretty stupid if you ask me.” Tori laughed.   
Mara swung at Tori, who dodged and grabbed her fist, yanking her to the side and throwing her to the ground. Mara grabbed her and brought her down with her, and the two tumbled around in the dirt. Tori seemed to have the advantage and was attacking Mara with a surprising amount of strength. Onyx, noticing the disturbance, rushed over.  
“Hey, hey, hey! What the hell is going on here?” he asked, pulling Tori back and holding her against his chest.   
“You ought to teach your students not to throw punches at strangers.” Tori growled at Zamasu.  
“You disrespected my master!” Mara yelled, still on the ground and bleeding.  
Zamasu, who had now recovered, turned to Mara. “You were not ordered to attack. This is on you.”  
“But- but she…”  
“I don’t care what you think she did, I never gave you an order to attack. If you can’t learn to listen to me, I want you to find another mentor.” he growled.  
Mara looked down dejectedly. Zamasu turned his attention to Tori.  
“I’d appreciate it if you didn’t try to rile up my student again.” he said.  
Tori shrugged. “I’ll do whatever I want to do.”  
“You really shouldn’t…” Onyx muttered.  
“If you say so.” she beamed at the saiyan. She then looked back to Zamasu. “Alright, I’ll leave her alone next time.”  
Zamasu was fuming at the fact that Tori had listened to Onyx instead of him.  
“What even is the relationship between you two?” he snarled. “You honestly mean to take this filthy saiyan as your partner?”  
“He’s not my partner.” she sniffed. Onyx nodded. “We’re friends with benefits. He still sees other people. So do I. It’s not a big deal.”  
“You let someone who isn’t even your partner mark you?” he asked, astounded.  
“I’m not very picky on who gets to give me hickeys. I honestly would’ve let you do it if you’d asked.” She shrugged.   
“I can second that.” Onyx said. “You probably could’ve done anything to her if you played your cards right.”  
“That’s disgusting.” Zamasu winced, though he was second-guessing it.  
“So you’re a whore then.” Mara growled, finally getting up.   
“Yeah, and what’re you gonna do about it?” Tori laughed. “You wish you were this cute. Stay mad.” she blew her an overdramatic kiss before turning Onyx around and walking away with him.  
“I can’t believe that- that…” Mara was fuming. “That wretched girl. I’m ashamed we’re the same species.”  
“Watch your tongue.” Zamasu snapped. “She is my former student. I won’t have you disrespecting her again.”  
Mara stared at him incredulously. He wasn’t entirely sure why he was defending her either. But she said nothing, just sighed in a resigned manner and sat back down near him.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> i love not being able to write. sorry this is short too, i'm in a bit of a funk... i have ideas for the fic but i dont wanna put them in too early so i have to write filler shit. this is the beginning of a turn around, at least.
> 
> also shout out to javi, who i looked up to a ton as an artist and then found out she'd read this fanfic. embarrassing as shit but i love you. cell's pussy is so fat

Zamasu hadn’t ever actually interacted with Xara; not really, though she’d intervened with his plans before. So it surprised him when she approached him quietly one day, while Mara wasn’t near.  
“Hey, um,” she started. “I wanted to let you know, Tori’s throwing this… sorta party at a lake somewhere by her old house. She invited a few time patrollers and said we could invite anyone we wanted, soo… I guess I’m inviting you.”  
“Why?” he frowned. “How can you think that I’d want to go to a mortal gathering?”  
“Well, I know you wouldn’t normally.” she shrugged. “But I figured I’d let you know. She’d probably really like it if you were there. She likes you a lot, you know.”  
This made him flush slightly. “I… I know.”  
Xara blinked. “Oh, I’m not talking romantically. She just generally enjoys your presence. Anyway, figured I’d let you know.”  
“Right…” he frowned still, but nodded slightly.  
***  
The party took place in a very secluded area by a lake, just as Xara had said. Zamasu wasn’t entirely sure why he’d decided to come; it was an area full of mortals that he didn’t know and didn’t like. He observed from a distance at first. The wilderness was mostly untouched, save for some steps that had been carved into a boulder to allow easier access to the river, and a rope swing.   
He spotted Onyx first. He was surrounded by a few girls and appeared to be flirting with them, laughing a lot and snapping at bikinis. Zamasu wrinkled his nose in disgust. It took him longer to find Tori. He finally spotted her, alone in a shaded area of the river. She was holding onto the rope swing to keep afloat, kicking her legs slowly and looking forlornly at Onyx.   
He flew over to her, curious as to why she was alone. She looked up and raised her eyebrows.  
“Woah, who invited you?” she asked.  
“Your saiyan friend. The girl. Xara.” he answered.  
“Of course she did.” Tori sighed.  
“You don’t want me here?”  
“No, it’s not that.” she shook her head. “Well, actually it sorta is. You have a tendency to kick me when I’m down, and I’m down right now.”  
“Why?”  
She sighed. “Broke it off with Onyx. I’m not able to do the whole open relationship thing. I thought it would be better than nothing, but it wasn’t.” she laughed softly.  
“I’ll never understand you mortals. You switch partners so often, yet claim to be monogamous creatures.”  
“I’d love to be monogamous.” Tori chuckled. “Sadly, no one is that interested in me.” She paused, looking up at him. “What about you?”  
Zamasu sputtered. “What?”  
“Is your kind monogamous? Do you even have partners?”  
“Oh.” He sighed in relief, having misunderstood her. “We are perfect beings. We have no need for partners.”  
“Sure.” she shrugged. “I get it, I guess. Doesn’t it ever get lonely, though?”  
“No.”  
“Hm. Are all supreme kai that way?”  
“I suppose I can’t speak for the entirety of kai, but I would think so.”  
“Maybe it’s the Earthling in me that longs for companionship, then.”  
Zamasu squinted, confused by her wording. “What do you mean? You are still an Earthling, are you not?”  
“Ah… yeah. I guess it feels less like it because I was ranked up to godhood.”  
“You are still a mortal. Don’t let the gods pity on you fool you into thinking you can stand amongst us. You will always be inferior.”  
“You sure know how to make a girl feel special.” she chuckled.  
“You know I take no pity on you, mortal.”  
“Where’s Mara?” she asked.  
“None of your business.”  
Tori groaned. “Ah, the famous line.” she sighed. “Why did you even come?”  
Zamasu mulled over it. “I don’t know.”  
She grumbled and adjusted her grip on the rope swing. Her hands slid slightly, and she yelped, dropping the rope. Zamasu watched curiously as she examined hre finger, which had been sliced open.  
“Something on the rope…” she muttered. “Hey, Fu!” she called.  
The young demon, who was nearby on a rock, flew over at once.  
“What’s up?” he asked.  
“You wanted to test some of my blood, right?” she asked, holding up her finger.  
Fu’s face lit up. “Oh boy, can I?”  
“Sure.”  
He pulled a small vial out of his pocket and placed it under Tori’s finger. He lightly squeezed until he’d gathered a few drops.  
“Oh, this should be really interesting!” he grinned. “Thanks!” he said before flying back.  
Zamasu didn’t miss the way Tori looked at him.  
“Don’t even think about it.” he growled.  
“About what?” she frowned.  
“I’m not stupid. I told you not to get with Onyx, and you didn’t listen. Now you’re alone, and it’s your own fault for not listening to me. You’re exactly the type to lower your standards so much that you’d be interested in a wretched demon.”  
When she didn’t respond, he looked down at her. She was looking away.  
Finally, she spoke. “You’re really mean sometimes, you know?” she shook her head. “This party sucks anyway. I’m the hostess, and you’re the first person to talk to me in an hour.” she scowled at Onyx. “At least someone here is happy.”  
She rose up out of the water, flying off before Zamasu could say another word.  
***  
Zamasu rarely ever spoke to Chronoa, so he was surprised when she approached him later.  
“Did you say something to Tori the other day? She’s been strangely down lately, and Fu said he saw her fly off after talking to you in the middle of a party.”  
“You get your news from a demon?” he scoffed.  
“I don’t want to hear your thoughts. You know, I would’ve thought you’d liked the news and all. You ought to like her more now that she’s the apprentice supreme kai of time, but I guess your hatred of her runs too deep.”  
Zamasu gaped. “W...what do you mean, apprentice supreme kai of time?”  
Chronoa raised her eyebrows. “You mean she didn’t tell you? Huh. She’s pretty fond of you… I thought for sure she would tell you.”  
“You’ve taken her as an apprentice?” he asked.  
“Well, our recent encounter with Dabura made me realize that there’s no one lined up to take my place if I’m killed.”  
“Why not take Trunks, then?”  
“He’s not interested. Doesn’t want to be immortal. Tori doesn’t have many friends. Sad as that is, it makes it easier for her to adjust to not aging and having to watch her friends grow older.”  
“You’ve already made her immortal?”  
“Of course. Kais have to be immortal, even an apprentice. You should know, you were an apprentice once. In fact, the only reason you aren’t still is because you killed your master and stole his rank.”  
Zamasu was bewildered. “Excuse me.” he said, turning to leave.  
“Don’t make her sadder!” Chronoa called after him.  
Zamasu burst into Tori’s room. She was on the bed, changing. She shrieked and covered her chest.  
“Can you knock first?” she yelled.  
“You’re a supreme kai.” he blurted out, too focused on that to think of anything else to say.  
Tori deflated somewhat. “An apprentice, yeah.”  
“You didn’t tell me.”  
“I saw no reason to.”  
Zamasu groaned. “You let me go on and on about you being a mortal when you aren’t anymore. Why didn’t you correct me?”  
“I’m too used to you treating me like shit. I didn’t want to change that. It’s too weird to imagine you being able to tolerate me.”  
He walked over and sat next to her. She scooted away, arms still crossed over her chest. Zamasu stared at her until she shifted uncomfortably.  
“What?” she asked.  
“I have to start viewing you as a supreme kai.”  
“Don’t.” she gave him a withering glare and turned away. “Get out of here, I need to put on a shirt.” she waved a hand at him until he got up and left.  
Outside the door, Zamasu pondered. She’d make a better supreme kai of time than Chronoa, he thought. Though that was partially because he had a very low opinion of Chronoa.


End file.
